#18 Texans fall to #9 Clarendon 73-66 Monday in Clarendon

CLARENDON, Texas — The No. 18-ranked South Plains College men's basketball team battled No. 9 Clarendon College to the final seconds Monday, but would eventually fall to the Bulldogs 73-66 at the Bulldog Gymnasium.

South Plains moves to 10-5 on the year and 2-1 in the WJCAC and will be back on their home court on Thursday when they take on New Mexico Military Institute at 6:30 p.m. The game will stream live at spctexans.com.

Trailing 62-58 with 6:16 to play in the game following a layup from South Plains' Yuot Gai, Clarendon (13-1, 3-0) tied the game at 64 on an Esahia Nyiwe' jumper with four minutes left. The Bulldogs would then use a 5-0 run to take a 69-64 lead on a pair of free throws from Elijah Gonzales with just under two minutes to play.  

South Plains' Junior Farquhar would get his team back within three, 69-66 with a pair of free throws with 43 ticks to go in the contest on the following possession. Looking for a turnover on the defensive end, South Plains would eventually foul the Bulldogs' Michael Underwood with 15 seconds remaining. Underwood would hit both to put Clarendon up 71-66 in the final seconds, escaping with the win as the Texans were unable to fill the gap down the stretch.

Farquhar led the Texans on the offensive end with 17 points and six assists, finishing 7 of 16 from the floor and also snagged five rebounds over 38 minutes. Rivaldo Soares chipped in a trio of 3s, totaling 13 points and eight rebounds for South Plains. Freshman Benjamin Bayela netted 11 points and four boards as the Texans shot 34.3 percent from the floor and 26.7 percent from the perimeter.

Clarendon's Russell Harrison led all scorers with 23 points and 12 rebounds, dropping in 9 of 20 shots from the field and was 4-for-8 from the 3-point line. Elijah Gonzales totaled 14 points and five rebounds as Clarendon shot 44.4 percent from the floor and 36.4 percent from the perimeter in the contest.