Gardner scores 28 as No. 2 Texans throttle Strength 'N Motion 92-58

LEVELLAND — Myron Gardner scored a career-high 28 points as the second-ranked South Plains College men's basketball team throttled Strength 'N Motion 92-58 Saturday afternoon at the Texan Dome.

The Texans improved to 3-0 on the season and will return to the hardwood on Jan. 27 when they travel to Northern Oklahoma College-Enid for a 1 p.m. matchup, followed by a contest against Collin County Community College at noon on Jan. 31 at the Collin County Gymnasium.  

"We tried to play a lot of people, and our objective is to have five rested guys on the floor at all times," South Plains head coach Steve Green said. "We want to keep the level of intensity up instead of just playing guys through until they're tired. As a result, we had guys come off the bench and make some plays. I thought Phil played well, and Myron is Myron and that's what we expect of him."

Gardner was lights out on the offensive end, connecting on 9 of 13 shots from the floor and was 6 of 9 from the 3-point line over 24 minutes. Philmon Gebrewhit netted 12 points, four boards, and three assists, dropping in 3 of 4 shots from the floor and was 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in 19 minutes.

Sophomore Rivaldo Soares finished with 12 points and five rebounds as the 6-foot-7 guard from Boston was 2 of 7 from the field and 8 of 10 from the charity stripe over 25 minutes for the Texans. Benjamin Bayela shot 5 of 11 from the field including a pair of 3s as the 6-foot-6 guard from France tallied 12 points and four rebounds for South Plains.

"As long as guys keep busting their tails and playing hard they will get the opportunity to get in the game," Green said. "Now, they have to go out and produce. Right now we're just trying to get a level of intensity and couple that with good decision making. I think we played through some bad shooting in the first half, and we have a lot of room for improvement, but overall I think the team effort was better today than last night."

The Texans shot a 47.5 percent clip from the field including a 37 percent mark from distance, knocking down 13 3s in the contest. South Plain received 55 points from their bench and scored 12 points off 11 forced turnovers. Strength 'N Motion shot 37.7 percent in the contest and 20 percent from 3. Jorge Moreno netted 21 points and 21 boards while Jerome Cooper and Mario Whitley each finished with seven points.