De La Cruz' 20 points leads Texans over Frank Phillips 90-59

LEVELLAND — The South Plains College men's basketball team had four players score in double figures in route to a 90-59 victory over Frank Phillips College Monday night at the Texan Dome.

The Texans improve to 19-8 on the year and 11-4 in the WJCAC and will close out the regular season against Odessa College on Thursday on Ameriprise Financial VIP Night at the Texan Dome.

"They left the middle of the floor open with their zone, and we recognized it and tossed it there," South Plains head coach Steve Green said. "Everyone we put on the floor has to play hard and everyone is just as important as the other. Anyone you put out there has to be productive from here on out."  

Freddie De La Cruz led South Plains with the rock pouring in 20 points and snagged five rebounds, finishing 9 of 13 from the floor and knocked down a pair of 3s. Yuot Gai scored a season-high 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Texans shot a season-high 62 percent from the field and a season-high 64 percent from the 3-point line.

Benjamin Bayela was 7 of 11 from the field, netting 16 points and dished out a game-high six assists over 40 minutes. Jevonnie Scott was a perfect 3-for-3 from the perimeter, chipping in 16 points, connecting on 6 of 9 shots from the field.

"Going into a postseason tournament you have to have good guard play," Green said. "If you don't have that, it doesn't make a whole lot of difference. When we're all playing together we're pretty good. You have to take good shots and make good decisions - if you do that you will have a chance."

The Texans were just as efficient on the defensive end, forcing the Plainsmen to shoot just 36.4 percent from the field and forced 14 turnovers in the contest. South Plains had its way inside, outrebounding their counterpart 45-26 inside and recorded a season-high 11 blocked shots.

"We're long, and for the most part any time they shot the ball there was a big hand in front of them," Green said. "Anytime you can challenge a shot you've done pretty good and we were able to do that quite a bit tonight. We have Odessa on Thursday, and you want to win the last game of the season at home, and at this point, you play them all and you have to win them."