Texans Fall Short In Odessa

Odessa— The South Plains College Texans fell to the Odessa Wranglers 63-62 Thursday night in Odessa.

The Texans' Roberto Gallinat led all scorers with 18 points and nine rebounds, and Che Bob finished with 16 points and seven boards for the Texans.

Odessa's Larry Lewis led the Wranglers with 13 points in the contest, while Malik Hicks and Louis Adams each scored 11 points.

The first twenty minutes was a defensive struggle for both sides, as the Texans shot just 29 percent from the field in the first half, while holding Odessa to a 24 percent shooting percentage before the break.

Despite a slow start on the offensive side of the ball from South Plains (11-5, 2-1), the Texans were able to manage a five point 26-21 halftime lead heading into the second half. Both teams continued to battle throughout the final frame of the contest, with Odessa (14-2, 3-0) taking a one-point lead on a pair of free throws from Lewis to give the Wranglers a 63-62 lead with under 20 seconds left in regulation.

The Texans had the final shot with just under four seconds left, but Gallinat's mid-range jumper from the left corner fell short, allowing the Wranglers to escape with a one-point victory.

"You can't go out and win a game playing the way we did," South Plains head coach Steve Green said. "We struggled and we didn't share the ball, and all the things we've been working on we just threw out the window tonight. I'm really disappointed in this group of sophomores who've come this far, and we got exactly what we deserved tonight."

South Plains will look to get back to their winning ways on Saturday when they host the New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds with tipoff set for 3:45 p.m.