Texans clip Jets 88-80 to advance to Sweet 16 in Hutch

HUTCHINSON, KS — Kieves Turner led all scorers with 28 points and 10 boards as the South Plains College men's basketball team outlasted #19 South Georgia Tech 88-80 Tuesday in the opening round of the NJCAA Men's Basketball National Tournament at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

#14 South Plains advances to the Sweet 16 where they await a matchup with #3 Kilgore College at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. The contest will stream live at spctexans.com via the NJCAA Network and can also be heard locally at klvtradio.com.

The Texans led 42-40 at the midway point as Turner went off for 17 points in the front half, connecting on 6 of 11 shots from the floor and was 3 of 5 from distance at the break. The Jets quickly took a 50-43 lead coming out of the locker room as Malik Battle sealed a 10-1 run from South Georgia Tech with 16:40 to play.

Trailing 55-51 with 12:47 left, South Plains utilized a 14-8 run to retake the lead 65-63 on a 3 from Savion Gallion with 8:50 remaining. The Jets' Will Johnston would then tie the game at 67 apiece with a triple with 7:48 to go. The Texans answered back, this time ripping off a 12-0 run capped by a jumper from Jaden Harris to give South Plains a commanding 79-67 lead with just under five minutes to play.

South Georgia Tech would try and claw their way back, eventually getting within seven, 81-74 with 1:23 to go, but it wouldn't be enough as the Texans held off the Jets in the final seconds to advance to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

Turner finished 8 of 17 from the field and 4 of 7 from the 3-point line as South Plains shot a 43.9 percent (29-66) clip from the floor and were 39.3 percent (11-28) from distance. Gallion finished with 15 points over 25 minutes coming off the bench for South Plains, while Eric Coleman Jr. netted 14 points and snagged eight boards over 31 minutes. Jaden Harris chipped in 10 points for SPC, while Khalifa Sakho tallied nine points and snagged five boards.