Texans clinch share of conference title with victory over Chaparrals

MIDLAND, Texas – The South Plains College Texans clinched at least a share of their second Western Junior College Athletic Conference (WJCAC) championship in three years Monday night, defeating Midland College 72-64 at the Chaparral Center. 

The Texans (25-4, 12-3 WJCAC) got the help they needed with New Mexico knocking off Howard 63-62 in Big Spring.

South Plains now owns a one game lead on both Howard (23-6, 11-4) and New Mexico (23-5, 11-4), but holds tiebreakers for the No. 1 seed to next month's Region 5 Tournament, thanks to season sweeps over both teams. 

For much of Monday night, it looked like the Texans may not get the job done.  Midland owned a five-point halftime advantage, 37-32, and led 55-48 with less than nine minutes to play in the game. 

At that point, the Texans began applying full-court pressure that led to Chaparral turnovers. 

Roderick Lawrence nailed a three near the eight-minute mark that cut the Texan deficit to one.  Following a Midland free throw, Lawrence gave the Texans their first lead since the midway point of the first half with another three. 

South Plains continued to apply pressure and wound up extending their lead to 12, thanks to a 23-4 scoring run. 

The Texans brightest spot came on the offensive glass, where they outrebounded their opponent 20-9. 

Andre Spight led all scorers with 23 points but received plenty of help from Lawrence andRyan Martin who each chipped in with a double double. 

With the loss, Midland ends their season with an overall record of 11-18 and conference record of 3-13. 

Had the Texans not hung on to the win Monday night, they would have been at risk of falling from first to possibly not making the Region 5 Tournament.  Their victory over Midland now takes a lot of the potential drama out of the season's final day – at least for the Texans. 

South Plains will host Odessa College Thursday night at the Texan Dome in what could be a do or die scenario for the Wranglers who are currently tied with Western Texas for the fourth spot. 

Odessa owns a season sweep over Western Texas, but a loss at the Texan Dome along with a Western Texas victory over Howard would put the Wranglers as the odd team out of next month's Region 5 Tournament that includes the top four teams from the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference (NTJCAC). 

Texan sophomores Ryan Martin, Sekou Harris, Malik Nichols, Roderick Lawrence,Billydee Williams, Cedrick McAfee, Michael Karena, and Brandon Neel will be recognized before Thursday's game in what will be their final appearances playing in the Texan Dome. 

Thursday's regular season finale is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. and will be broadcast live on NTS Channel 63 as well as online at www.spctexans.com.  KLVT Radio will also carry the broadcast on 1230 AM and www.klvtradio.com.  

WJCAC Scores:  South Plains 72, Midland 64; New Mexico 63, Howard 62; Western Texas 70, Frank Phillips 64; Clarendon at NMMI.

South Plains (25-4, 12-3)
Andre Spight 10-17 1-4 23, Billydee Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Sekou Harris 1-6 4-4 6, Malik Nichols 0-0 0-0 0, Clayton Jones 0-1 1-2 1, Emmanuel Omogbo 3-8 2-3 8, Roderick Lawrence 5-12 3-6 17, Cedrick McAfee 0-4 0-0 0, Ryan Martin 5-13 3-6 13, Michael Karena 2-7 0-0 4, Pedro Konofino 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-73 14-25 72

Midland College (11-18, 3-13)
Daniel Hernandez 3-9 3-4 10, Domonique Bull 2-5 1-3 5, Jason Francois 4-8 2-2 14, Herve Aholode 5-9 0-0 10, Kenan Guzonjic 2-6 4-4 8, Kevin Thomas 3-5 0-1 6, LeBrent Walker 3-9 5-8 11. Totals 22-51 15-22 64

FG%: South Plains .356, Midland College .431. 3-pt FG:South Plains 6-20 (Spight 2-5, Williams 0-1, Harris 0-2, Jones 0-1, Lawrence 4-7, McAfee 0-3, Martin 0-1), Midland College 5-16 (Hernandez 1-6, Bull 0-1, Francois 4-8, Walker 0-1). Rebounds: South Plains 43 (Martin 13), Midland College 40 (Walker 9). Fouls South Plains 23, Midland College 20. Fouled out: Guzonjic . Technical: Spight. Assists: South Plains 9 (Spight 3), Midland College 10 (Hernandez 4). Steals: South Plains 16 (Martin 4), Midland College 6 (Hernandez 4). Blocked shots: South Plains 3 (Lawrence 2), Midland College 2 (Bull 1, Thomas 1). Turnovers: South Plains 15, Midland College 26.