Texans defeat New Mexico 72-63 to maintain conference lead

LEVELLAND – Andre Spight led all scorers with 18 points while Ryan Martin and Roderick Lawrence chipped in with 17 and 13, respectively, and the fifth-ranked South Plains College Texans completed a season sweep of the New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds with a 72-63 victory Monday night at the Texan Dome. 

Spight hit three 3s in the first four minutes of the game to get the Texans off to a quick start in a game they never trailed in following the first two minutes of the contest.

South Plains (22-3, 9-2 WJCAC) led by as many as nine before heading to the locker room up five, 32-27. 

Just like the beginning of the game, Spight started the second half with a 3 to put SPC up eight. 

South Plains controlled much of the second half and led by as many as 15 and also 14 on two occasions. 

New Mexico would do enough to make the game interesting. 

Following a 3 by Spight that put the Texans in control 66-52, New Mexico went on a 9-0 run to get within five points in the final minute. 

That's as close as the T-Birds would get as Billydee Williams converted a three-point play moments later and the Texans held on for the victory that keeps them a half-game ahead of Odessa for first place in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference standings. 

The victory also puts behind what could be considered the toughest part of the schedule for the Texans as they recently faced four of the top five teams in the conference.  South Plains' next four games will be against teams that have a combined 11-35 record in WJCAC competition. 

The first of those four games will be at Clarendon College Thursday, Feb. 13 with tipoff scheduled for 7:45 p.m.  Fans can watch live video of the contest at www.spctexans.com.  Thursday's game can also be found on the radio at KLVT 1230 AM and online atwww.klvtradio.com. 

New Mexico Junior College (20-5, 8-4)
Jeff Neverson 1-6 1-1 3, Rashaun Madison 2-8 0-0 6, Marcus Frazier 4-5 0-0 8, Chris Boucher 4-10 2-2 11, Nick Billingsley 3-7 0-0 7, Karim Diop 0-0 0-0 0, Jeff Newberry 3-8 5-6 11, Montarius Hall 1-2 0-0 2, Kenrich Williams 6-9 2-3 15, Isaiah Cotton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-56 10-12 63

South Plains (22-3, 9-2)
Andre Spight 6-13 1-2 18, Billydee Williams 2-5 3-3 7, Sekou Harris 2-5 0-0 5, Malik Nichols 1-4 1-4 3, Emmanuel Omogbo 2-6 2-2 6, Roderick Lawrence 5-13 1-2 13, Cedrick McAfee 1-2 0-0 2, Ryan Martin 7-12 3-4 17, Michael Karena 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 26-63 12-19 72

FG%: New Mexico Junior College .429, South Plains .413. 3-pt FG:New Mexico Junior College 5-16 (Neverson 0-1, Madison 2-5, Boucher 1-3, Billingsley 1-4, Newberry 0-2, Williams 1-1), South Plains 8-20 (Spight 5-8, Williams 0-2, Harris 1-3, Lawrence 2-6, Martin 0-1). Rebounds: New Mexico Junior College 36 (Williams 15), South Plains 27 (Spight 6). Fouls New Mexico Junior College 16, South Plains 12. Fouled out: none. Technical: NICHOLS. Assists: New Mexico Junior College 8 (Frazier 3), South Plains 18 (Spight 4, Martin 4). Steals: New Mexico Junior College 4 (Frazier 2), South Plains 13 (Lawrence 3). Blocked shots: New Mexico Junior College 6 (Boucher 4), South Plains 8 (Spight 2, Lawrence 2, Martin 2). Turnovers: New Mexico Junior College 25, South Plains 15.