Texans hold off Howard College Hawks, 82-73

LEVELLAND – Sekou Harris scored a season and game high 18 points and led five Texans scoring in double figures to help South Plains College to an 82-73 victory over conference foe and defending WJCAC champion Howard 82-73 Monday night at the Texan Dome in a game that was closer than indicated by the final score.

Starters Ryan Martin and Andre Spight added 13 and 11, respectively, while Billydee Williams and Clayton Jones came up big off the bench, chipping in with 16 and 11. 

The game stayed close until the Texans made a run just past the midway point of the first half. 

Leading 25-22, Harris took advantage of an offensive rebound by Roderick Lawrence and made Howard pay with the first of back-to-back 3-point goals that led to an 8-0 to give the Texans a double-digit lead. 

South Plains would lead by as many as 12 before Howard rallied to cut the Texan lead in half by halftime. 

Jones knocked down a trey with 8:14 remaining in the ball game that once again seemed to give the Texans control of the contest with a 67-58 lead, but minutes later, the Texans found themselves clinging to a two-point lead. 

Howard's Darius Johnson knocked down back-to-back baskets and Eric Weary answered a 3 by Williams with one for the Hawks and, suddenly, the score was 70-68 with just over five minutes remaining in the game. 

South Plains made key shots and 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win, moving the Texans to 15-1 overall and, more importantly, 2-0 in conference play. 

The loss drops Howard to 13-3 overall and 1-1 on the WJCAC. 

The Texans will return to action when they travel to Hobbs, N.M. for a showdown with the New Mexico T-Birds Thursday, Jan. 9.  Game time is set for 8:45 p.m. and will be broadcast live on 1230 AM KLVT Radio with Michael Wiiest calling the action.  Live video will also be available at www.spctexans.com. 

Howard College (13-3, 1-1)
Cole Babcock 0-0 0-0 0, Jalin Barnes 2-8 3-3 7, Demeco Blue 0-1 0-0 0, Niels Bunschoten 0-1 0-0 0, Travis Charles 8-11 0-1 16, Torrian Epps 2-10 0-0 5, David Joseph 5-11 2-3 13, Darius Johnson 4-8 1-2 9, Jose Libanio 0-0 0-0 0, Lis Shoshi 3-5 0-0 6, Eric Weary 7-15 0-1 18. Totals 31-70 6-10 74

South Plains (15-1, 2-0)
Andre Spight 4-8 2-2 11, Billydee Williams 6-10 0-0 16, Sekou Harris 4-10 8-9 18, Malik Nichols 1-4 0-0 2, Clayton Jones 4-6 0-0 11, Emmanuel Omogbo 0-2 0-0 0, Roderick Lawrence 2-7 1-3 5, Cedrick McAfee 0-3 5-6 5, Ryan Martin 5-8 3-3 13, Michael Karena 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 27-60 19-23 83

FG%: Howard College .443, South Plains .450. 3-pt FG:Howard College 6-21 (Barnes 0-1, Bunschoten 0-1, Epps 1-6, Joseph 1-2, Johnson 0-3, Weary 4-8), South Plains 10-21 (Spight 1-3, Williams 4-6, Harris 2-5, Jones 3-4, Lawrence 0-2, McAfee 0-1). Rebounds: Howard College 30 (Charles 9), South Plains 39 (Williams 7, Lawrence 7, McAfee 7). Fouls Howard College 19, South Plains 13. Fouled out: none. Technical: none. Assists: Howard College 12 (Barnes 4, Johnson 4), South Plains 14 (Jones 4). Steals: Howard College 2 (Barnes 1, Johnson 1), South Plains 4 (Lawrence 2). Blocked shots: Howard College 2 (Shoshi 2), South Plains 3 (Spight 1, Williams 1, Martin 1). Turnovers: Howard College 9, South Plains 12.