Texans rout Frank Phillips 90-61 Monday night to set up conference showdown with Odessa on Thursday

BORGER—Jordan Brangers scored 23 points and freshman Jahlil Tripp recorded 14 points and 10 boards as the No. 1 South Plains College Texans routed Frank Phillips College 90-61 on Monday night to improve to 22-0 on the year and 10-0 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference.

"We knew we had to set the tone and couldn't take them lightly," Brangers said. "We came out and executed our game plan. They play a two-three zone and extended it a little bit every time I got the ball. They stayed on me pretty good, but I was still able to hit some shots and help out my team. Coach Green let us know that tonight was a statement game, and if we didn't win tonight it would hurt us come Thursday's game against Odessa."

Raquan Mitchell scored in double figures for the second time in as many games as the sophomore guard from Miami finished the contest with 14 points. Josh Webster tallied 11 assists to help facilitate the Texans' offense while Shawntrez Davis chipped in eight points.

"Everyone was just trying to distribute the ball like we know we can," Mitchell said. "We were just looking to get the assist and find good shots. The game plan tonight was to find the assist. We came in tonight with the mindset that we were going to attack and pass. In order for us to stay No. 1 in the conference we have to go beat Odessa. We don't want to split or tie, so we need to come out and play like we know we can."

South Plains shot 58 percent from the floor and 42 percent from the 3-point line. Brangers finished the contest 8-of-12 from the field while Mitchell was 4-of-5 from the perimeter. Tripp finished the contest 6-of-9 from the floor in 28 minutes of action. Monday's victory keeps the Texans one game ahead of rival Odessa, who will await the Texans on Thursday night with tipoff slated for 7:30 p.m.

"We just played our game and showed why we're the No. 1 team in the country," Tripp said. "I like the job my team did tonight and came out and did what we need to do. Coach let us know they were going to play zone all night because they couldn't match up against us, so we just tried to get the ball down low and work inside out. Thursday night going to Odessa is a real big one for us. It's going to decide who's at the top of the conference and what happens at the regional tournament."