Texans storm by Central Arizona in first round of Fiesta Bowl Shootout

MESA, Ariz. – Andre Spight led four Texans scoring in double figures with 21 points and the NJCAA second-ranked South Plains College Texans earned their 13^th victory on the season with a 95-79 victory over Central Arizona College in round one of the Fiesta Bowl Junior College Shootout.

Ryan Martin scored 20 points on a perfect 8-of-8 shooting from the field while Roderick Lawrence and Malik Nichols chipped in with 18 and 11, respectively. 

The Texans (13-0) will now face the winner of the tournament's second game between twelfth-ranked Monroe (NY) and No. 14 Salt Lake (UT) Saturday at 8 p.m. MST. 

South Plains shot the ball particularly well - especially considering they have not played in nearly three weeks when they won their conference opener 70-60 over Western Texas on Dec. 7 – making 37-of-70 shots (.529) while also outrebounding their opponent 37-18. 

The Texans made 20-of-34 shots in a first half that saw them dart out to a 53-33 lead. 

South Plains may very well be in for one of their tougher tests of the season when they face the winner of the 4 p.m. day one matchup of Monroe and Salt Lake, two teams they have tangled with in NJCAA Tournament games in years past.  

Texan coach Steve Green has posted a 1-1 record against both Monroe and Salt Lake since he has became the coach at South Plains 14 years ago.  Most recently, Green rallied his troops past Monroe in the second round of the 2012 NJCAA tournament.  Down 11 with less than 14 minutes remaining in the game, the Texans outscored Monroe 35-11 the rest of the way to advance and eventually became only the sixth team in the history of the men's NJCAA basketball tournament to complete a season with an unblemished record. 

South Plains took down Salt Lake in the finals of the 2008 NJCAA Championship game; a game Salt Lake won the very next season. 

A live video link for the Texans Saturday contest will be available at www.spctexans.com, courtesy of tournament host Mesa Community College.

South Plains (13-0)
Andre Spight 8-19 1-2 21, Billydee Williams 4-9 1-1 9, Sekou Harris 1-3 2-2 5, Malik Nichols 5-7 1-2 11, Clayton Jones 1-2 0-0 2, Emmanuel Omogbo 0-1 0-1 0, Roderick Lawrence 6-11 2-2 18, Cedrick McAfee 2-4 0-0 5, Ryan Martin 8-8 4-6 20, Michael Karena2-6 0-1 4, Pedro Konofino 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-70 11-17 95

Central Arizona (6-6)
Jaylen Benton 8-11 2-2 21, Nathaniel Wright 5-9 0-0 10, Lanerryl Johnson 0-3 0-0 0, Vincentas Aleksandravicius 3-10 3-4 12, Malik Thames 7-12 6-6 23, Deshawn Jones 2-8 3-4 7, Brandon Rosser 3-6 0-0 6, Demario Hall 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-60 14-16 79

FG%: South Plains .529, Central Arizona .467. 3-pt FG:South Plains 10-27 (Spight 4-13, Williams 0-3, Harris 1-2, Jones 0-1, Lawrence 4-7, McAfee 1-1), Central Arizona 9-23 (Benton 3-5, Johnson 0-2, Aleksandravicius 3-8, Thames 3-6, Jones 0-1, Rosser 0-1). Rebounds: South Plains 37 (Nichols 8), Central Arizona 18 (Wright 5, Jones 5). Fouls South Plains 14, Central Arizona 16. Fouled out: none. Technical: Nichols, Williams, Lawrence. Assists: South Plains 20 (Spight 5, Harris 5, Lawrence 5), Central Arizona 13 (Aleksandravicius 4, Thames 4). Steals: South Plains 14 (Nichols 5), Central Arizona 8 (Hall 3). Blocked shots: South Plains 2 (Lawrence 2), Central Arizona 1 (Rosser 1). Turnovers: South Plains 13, Central Arizona 17.