Texans improve to 4-0 with 99-58 drumming of Northwest Kansas Tech

LEVELLAND—Speed kills.

Jordan Brangers scored 24 points and Grantham Gillard totaled 17 as the South Plains College Texans improved to 4-0 with a 99-58 drumming of Northwest Kansas Tech on Tuesday night at the Texan Dome.

"We hit a couple threes to start the game and found a quick rhythm," Brangers said. "My teammates opened it up for me and found me some easy shots. Our speed is a pretty big advantage, and when you have as many players as we do that can push it up the floor it makes it easy on all of us."

South Plains jumped out to a 10-0 lead to begin the contest as Brangers connected on a 3 from the left wing with 16:26 remaining in the first half. Gillard found the net from behind the arc with 14:01 to play to extend the lead to 17-4.

The Texans continued to run the floor and find success in transition as Roberto Gallinat hit a trey with 6:02 before the break to push the Texans' lead to 38-17. A steal from Brangers with under two minutes to play in the first half would extend the lead to 48-17, with the Texans eventually taking a 50-19 lead into the locker room at the half.

"We can put four and sometimes five guys on the floor that can all dribble, pass, and shoot," South Plains head coach Steve Green said. "We're an outside-in team this year, so we have to play fast. This is the deepest team I've ever had. We have 12 guys that can all play, and all 12 can contribute in a different way. It's an unbelievable luxury to have."

South Plains began the second half much like the first as Gallinat capped off a 10-3 run with a 3 from the top of the key to bring the Texans' lead to 60-22. The Texans would go on to lead by as much as 47, shooting 51 percent from the floor and 48 percent from the perimeter over 40 minutes.

The Mavericks were held to a 25 percent shooting percentage, turning the ball over 27 times in the contest. Gallinat would finish with 13 points, four steals and three boards for South Plains, while Raquan Mitchell chipped in 11 and Josh Webster and Justice Green each had 10 points.

"When we get teams spread out we have several guys that can penetrate and pitch," Steve Green said. "These guys are really unselfish and they get as much of a thrill in passing the ball to someone else as they do receiving. We're spreading the floor out and playing east to west when we get into the half-court. We are really quick, so when we shoot the ball we can get around you and go get a second chance at it."