Soares' late 3 pushes No. 8 Texans past Lamar State College-Port Arthur 66-65 Saturday in Plano

PLANO — Rivaldo Soares drained a 3 with a second to go as the South Plains College men's basketball team defeated Lamar State College-Port Arthur 66-65 Saturday to improve to 4-0 on the year at the Texas East vs. West Challenge on the campus of Collin County Community College.

The Texans return to the hardwood next weekend when they make their home debut at the Texan Classic, tipping off with Panola College at 7 p.m. on Nov. 15, followed by a 2 p.m. matchup with Coastal Bend College on Nov. 16. Both games will stream live at spctexans.com and can be heard on KLVT Radio Levelland with Michael Wiiest calling the courtside action.

Soares netted double-digit scoring figures for the fourth straight game, dropping in 13 points including a pair of triples to keep the Texans in the win column. Bernard Kouma led South Plains in scoring with 19 points including 10 coming over the final 20 minutes.

Redshirt freshman guard Paul Person dropped in 13 points for the Texans as the Bronx, New York product tallied 11 points in the back half. Philmon Gebrewhit, a 6-foot-7 redshirt freshman guard from Boston dropped in 13 points for South Plains, all of which came in the first 20 minutes of the contest.

The Seahawks were led by sophomore guard Jamyus Jones, a 5-11 product from Port Arthur who led all scorers with 24 points including 14 points in the second half. Devaughn Thomas bucketed 18 points for LSCPA, dropping in 12 over the final 20 minutes.