#5 Texans fall to Lamar Community College 82-79 Tuesday in overtime

LEVELLAND — The fifth-ranked South Plains College men's basketball team fell to Lamar Community College 82-79 Tuesday at the Texan Dome in their final game before the Thanksgiving break.

Leading 70-68 in the final seconds Lamar's Jordan Wilson dropped in a floater from five feet with nine ticks to play to deadlock the game at 70 apiece. The Texans would get one final shot off as Philmon Gebrewhit put up a jumper with a second to go, but it would clank off the side of the rim to send the game into overtime.

Trading buckets to begin extra time, South Plains' Rivaldo Soares knocked down a jumper from 10 feet to put the Texans up 79-78 with 1:17 to play in OT. The Lopes (8-5) would retake the lead with 51 seconds left as Wilson banked a 3 off the glass as the shot clock expired to put his team back up two, 81-79.

Leading by three with five seconds remaining, Lamar's Oscar Maldonado missed a pair of free throws to keep the Texans alive in the final seconds as Gebrewhit put up a 3 from the right wing as time expired, but it wouldn't find the net as Lamar escaped and handed the Texans their second loss of the season.

Junior Farquhar led the Texans in scoring posting a season-high 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists, bucketing 7 of 12 shots from the field and was 7 of 11 from the free throw line over 40 minutes. Benjamin Bayela netted 19 points, four boards and a pair of assists for the Texans (5-2), finishing 5 of 16 from the floor including five 3s.

Rivaldo Soares and Jevonnie Scott combined for 18 points for South Plains, each scoring nine, while Freddie De La Cruz chipped in eight points and Jarrel Rosser poured in five points and grabbed three rebounds. The Texans shot 35.7 percent (25-70) from the field and 18.8 percent (6-32) from the perimeter against Lamar.

The Lopes' Williams led all scorers with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and two steals, dropping in 9 of 21 shots from the field and was 3 of 8 from long distance. Wilson poured in 22 points, snagged six rebounds and dished out a pair of assists over 39 minutes, connecting on 8 of 15 shots from the field as Lamar shot 47 percent (31-66) from the floor and 31.8 percent (7-22) from the 3-point line.

The Texans will look to get back on track this weekend when they travel to Plano for the Collin County Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 29-30. South Plains will square off with Collin County at 7 p.m. on Friday before taking on Hill College at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Both games will stream live at spctexans.com.