Hot handed Henderson leads Texans past Chandler-Gilbert

After making 14-of-31 shots in the first half, the Texans found themselves ahead of the Coyotes by the score of 37-34 heading into the locker room. Henderson, who scored 11 points in the first half, heated up even more to help lead the Texans to a much improved second half performance from the floor.

Chandler opened the second half with a three-point basket to cut the Texan lead to one. Henderson answered the call. On the next trip, Chandler nailed another. Henderson again put the Texans up by four and helped spark a 17-2 scoring run over the next four minutes to put the Texans up for good. South Plains would stretch their lead to as many as 24.

A 13-2 run by their opponent would bring the game to within 13 with 7:44 remaining on the clock and with 4:36 to go in the contest the Texan lead was cut to only 10.

South Plains answered with 10 unanswered points to remove all doubt they had the game in hand and would go on to win by 15 points, 87-72.

Henderson finished the game making 9-of-17 shots from the field including an eye-popping 8-of-11 from 3-point range while also dishing out four assists. Freshman Yanick Moreira had a solid night making 6-of-9 shots as well as 5-of-6 from the free throw line to finish with 17 points and just missing a double-double with nine boards. Stanton Kidd was just as efficient making 6-of-8 shots to finish with 15 points.

As a team the Texans were 32-of-57 (.561) from the field (18-of-26 in the second half) and outrebounded the Coyotes 37-28.

The Texans will play their final non-conference game Friday, January 6 when they visit the Scottsdale Community College Fighting Artichokes (3-7). Live video and stats of the contest can be found at www.spctexans.com.

South Plains (14-0)
Deshaunt Walker 0-4 0-0 0, Yanick Moreira 6-9 5-6 17, Derrell Edwards 2-2 0-0 5, Corey Spence 0-1 0-0 0, Devonte Smith 1-1 2-2 4, Stanton Kidd 6-8 3-3 15, Marshall Henderson9-17 2-2 28, Tymell Murphy 3-5 1-2 7, Greg Gainey 2-2 0-0 4, Malcolm Miller 3-6 0-0 7,Darius Harris 0-1 0-0 0, Terrence Durham 0-0 0-0 0, Anthony Walker 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-57 13-15 87

Chandler (10-6)
Jordan McDougald 2-7 0-0 6, Johnell Thompson 7-13 0-3 15, Kenneth Gooden 2-5 0-0 4, Michael Luck 0-2 0-0 0, Brandon Ehlinger 3-5 0-0 9, Devirous Johnson 2-7 0-0 5, Andrew Kelly 5-8 5-6 15, James Zuccaro 1-6 0-0 2, Logan Winter 1-2 0-0 2, Richard Kidd 5-8 4-4 14, Austin Dance 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-64 9-13 72

FG%: South Plains .561, Chandler .438. 3-pt FG:South Plains 10-21 (Walker 0-4, Edwards 1-1, Henderson 8-11, Murphy 0-1, Miller 1-4), Chandler 7-16 (McDougald 2-5, Thompson 1-2, Gooden 0-1, Ehlinger 3-4, Johnson 1-2, Zuccaro 0-1, Winter 0-1). Rebounds: South Plains 37 (Moreira 9), Chandler 28 (TEAM 7, Kelly 7). Fouls South Plains 15, Chandler 13. Fouled out: Smith Kelly . Technical: Smith. Assists: South Plains 20 (Smith 7), Chandler 12 (McDougald 2, Thompson 2, Luck 2, Zuccaro 2, Kidd 2). Steals: South Plains 5 (Moreira 2), Chandler 7 (Thompson 2, Luck 2). Blocked shots: South Plains 8 (Moreira 2, Murphy 2), Chandler 1 (Luck 1). Turnovers: South Plains 15, Chandler 11. Attendance: 0.