Texans come up a point short in exciting NJCAA quarterfinal contest

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Thursday's NJCAA National Tournament quarterfinal showdown between No. 9-seed South Plains College and top-ranked Indian Hills had a championship feel to it, and the two teams did not disappoint those in attendance with a dramatic game that was not decided until the final buzzer.

"I told my guys a couple days ago, I said 'this game is for the national championship,'" Texan head coach Steve Green said.

Sophomore Billydee Williams sank a go ahead three-point shot with 22 seconds remaining, giving South Plains College their first lead since the five minute mark of the first half. 

Williams took the pass from Andre Spight and squared up for the shot right in front of the Texan bench.  South Plains immediately called timeout to talk about what they would do defensively to stop the Warriors with 21.4 seconds. 

Malik Nichols denied Roosevelt Scott on a drive, but the Warriors were able to snag the loose ball for another opportunity. 

A cross-court pass found Lester Medford who drove in to the paint and drew a foul with only 2.3 ticks left on the clock. 

Medford, who was clutch in saving Indian Hills' season 48 hours earlier with two free throws that sent the Warriors' game with New Mexico into overtime, sank two more in the waning moments to dash the Texans' hopes of a third national title. 

"I thought it was a game everybody wanted to see," Green said.  "They've been No. 1 almost all season.  They took a couple weeks off and we jumped in there for a while. 

"I hate it that maybe this game is not Saturday, but that's okay." 

The fact the Texans were even in position to win shows the resiliency of this team. 

After a hot start that saw the Texans hold an eight-point lead early in the first half, Indian Hills rallied and eventually took firm control of the game.  In the final five minutes of the first half, the Texans were outscored 13-2 and went to the locker room with a 10-point halftime deficit. 

Despite how his team played in the final minutes of the opening half, Green had some encouraging words for his players. 

"I told them at halftime we were going to win the game.  As bad as we played I said, 'we are going to win the game.'" 

Things continued to look bleak as Indian Hills built up a 15-point advantage in the early going of the second half.  

Trailing 57-45 near the midway point, the Texans began a rally of their own.  

Andre Spight and Williams each sandwiched 3s around a field goal by Roderick Lawrenceand, suddenly, the Texans were only down four. 

After Lawrence knocked down two free throws, Nichols forced Medford into a turnover to help the Texans regain possession of the basketball. 

Sekou Harris found Emmanuel Omogbo down low and Omogbo battled hard to put up and make a shot on Indian Hills' Akolda Manyang, tying the game up at 58 apiece and setting up what would become an incredible finish. 

Manyang wreaked havoc on the Texans throughout, blocking four of the Warriors nine shots during the contest. 

Free throws would become key for the remainder of the game, with each team only converting one field apiece before Williams' 3 that gave the Texans the lead. 

In fact, the Texans held Indian Hills to only one field goal in the final 11:40. 

The Texans converted just 7-of-12 from the foul line over the final 8:41, including 3-of-6 beginning at the 3:36 mark, while Indian Hills was good on 11-of-14 down the stretch. 

That turned out to be the difference in a game that essentially finished with an identical box score, one-point aside. 

Indian Hills will advance to play Harcum (Pa.) at 6 p.m. Friday.  The winner will advance to Saturday's championship game. 

Following the game, Green bragged on his team's effort. 

"I was really proud of our guys," he said.  "We fell down what, 15?  We found something to get rejuvenated and bounced back."  

For the Texans, it's the end to what has been a great season that included a conference championship and just shy of SPC's sixth 30-win season. 

"We won the league and I think it is the toughest league in the country.  We are proud of that," Green said.  "We won 29 games, I don't think that's anything to sneeze at.  We played a very competitive schedule.  We expected to win today.  I did not have a conciliatory speech ready.  I had one prepared about what we were going to do to get ready to play the next game."

South Plains (29-6)
Andre Spight 6-12 0-0 17, Billydee Williams 4-7 2-4 14, Sekou Harris 1-3 1-2 3, Malik Nichols 0-5 3-4 3, Clayton Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Emmanuel Omogbo 3-10 3-4 9, Roderick Lawrence 3-11 6-8 12, Cedrick McAfee 1-4 1-1 3, Ryan Martin 2-4 0-2 5, Michael Karena2-4 0-1 4. Totals 22-62 16-26 70

Indian Hills (33-2)
Akolda Manyang 1-3 0-2 2, Malik Dime 2-2 0-0 4, Quevyn Winters 3-14 0-0 7, Quiydar Davis 1-3 4-6 6, Lester Medford 4-9 5-6 15, J.R. Harris 0-2 0-0 0, Marcus Posley 3-8 1-1 7, Roosevelt Scott 8-17 8-10 27, Jordan Washington 1-5 1-4 3. Totals 23-63 19-29 71

FG%: South Plains .355, Indian Hills .365. 3-pt FG:South Plains 10-24 (Spight 5-8, Williams 4-5, Harris 0-1, Jones 0-1, Lawrence 0-6, McAfee 0-1, Martin 1-2), Indian Hills 6-22 (Winters 1-6, Medford 2-4, Harris 0-1, Posley 0-5, Scott 3-6). Rebounds: South Plains 44 (Nichols 10), Indian Hills 45 (Scott 11). Fouls South Plains 16, Indian Hills 20. Fouled out: Nichols Manyang . Technical: none. Assists: South Plains 16 (Harris 8), Indian Hills 11 (Posley 4). Steals: South Plains 10 (Nichols 3), Indian Hills 8 (Medford 3). Blocked shots: South Plains 2 (Nichols 1, Martin 1), Indian Hills 9 (Manyang 4, Dime 4). Turnovers: South Plains 16, Indian Hills 16.