Texans, Lady Texans primed for Region V Tournament March 4-7 in Abilene

LEVELLAND — The South Plains College men's and women's basketball teams are slated to make their postseason debut March 4-7 in Abilene at the Moody Coliseum on the campus of Abilene Christian University at the NJCAA Region V Tournament.

The Texans come in as the defending Region V champs and will play as the No. 2 seed out of the west at 7 p.m. on Wednesday against Collin County Community College, the third seed from the north. The matchup will be the second of the two this season as the two programs met on Nov. 29 at the Collin County Thanksgiving Classic, with the Cougars edging the Texans 73-63.

Finishing the regular season with a record of 20-8 and 12-4 in the WJCAC, the Texans have won three straight including a 78-67 victory over Odessa on Feb. 27 in their regular-season finale. Averaging 71.5 points per game and shooting 42.7 percent from the field, South Plains pestered opposing offenses throughout the course of league play, giving up just 63.2 points per game, the top mark in the WJCAC, while forcing opponents to shoot just 38.2 percent from the floor, which also ranked first in the conference defensively. 

Collin enters the postseason as winners of five of their last six and capped the regular season with a record of 23-7 including an 11-4 mark in conference. Averaging 87.6 points per game, the Cougars are shooting 45.6 percent from the floor and ranked second in league play with 9.7 3s per game. Should the Texans come out victorious on Wednesday night, they will face the winner of Ranger College and Western Texas at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 6.

After capturing the Western Junior College Athletic Conference title outright with a 72-52 rout of No. 16 Odessa College on Feb. 27, the Lady Texans will play as the No. 1 seed out of the west when they square off with Weatherford College, the No. 4 seed from the north at 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 5.

Ending the regular season with a record of 29-1 including a 13-1 mark in the WJCAC, the Lady Texans proved to be the top team in the league on both ends of the floor, leading the conference with 30.6 field goals per game, and also ranked first with 47.9 points allowed per game, and posted the top defensive mark forcing their opponents to shoot just 29.4 percent from the field.

Weatherford comes in with a record of 22-8 and 10-6 in league play despite losing their last three games of the regular season. Averaging 73.3 points per game and shooing 39.9 percent from the floor, Weatherford is 2-0 at neutral sites and ranked fifth in the NTJCAC with 27.4 made field goals per game.

Should the Lady Texans be victorious on Thursday, they will be back on the hardwood at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 6 to take on the winner of Grayson and Midland College who plays at 3 p.m. on Thursday. The entire tournament will stream live at spctexans.com and can be heard locally on KLVT Radio AM1230 with Michael Wiiest calling the courtside action.  

Tournament brackets: https://njcaaregion5.com/information/championship_info

Live stream: https://tsrnsports.com/