Five Texans net double figures as #19 Texans clip Victoria College 84-66 in season opener

LEVELLAND — Five players scored in double figures as the Texans shot a 52.5 percent clip from the field en route to an 84-66 win over Victoria College in the season opener Tuesday night at the Texan Dome.

"I told the guys after the game that I love them and I appreciate them, and tonight is a night we won't forget," South Plains College head coach Hayden Sowers said. "You only get one first game, and to go out and win it, that's all you can ask for."

The Pirates jumped out to a 10-4 lead to begin the contest, which was answered by a 22-4 run from the Texans capped by a free throw from Isaiah Howell, giving South Plains a 26-14 advantage at the 8:37 mark of the first half.

Victoria would cut the deficit to six, 38-32 with 1:49 remaining in the front half following a free throw from Elijah Smith. SPC would answer back and take a nine point lead into the locker room at the midway point as Kalifa Sakho knocked down a jumper as time expired to put SPC up 43-34.

"We have confidence in all of our guys to make shots," Sowers said. "We got into a little foul trouble and struggled with free throws, but those things will improve with time and work. I think the strength of our team is our depth, and we had five guys in double figures and I thought we played well tonight."

South Plains extended its lead to 13, 51-38, early in the second half following a dunk from Christian Coleman, who finished with a game-high 19 points in his first outing in a Texan uniform. Coleman bucketed 9 of 15 shots from the field while pulling in eight boards and handed out five assists over 29 minutes.

"It means a lot to get coach Sowers his first win, and this is something we wanted to do for him," Coleman said. "We know the history of South Plains College, and we want to continue the tradition. We have some really good players on this team, and we thrive off each other and pick each other up. We had some nerves at the beginning of the game, but we relaxed, and all the work we put in paid off tonight."

Ismail Habib would push the lead to 15, 65-50 with 12:41 to play on a layup in traffic, part of an 18-point performance from the Chicago native. Habib would finish with 18 points and a team-high eight assists, connecting on 6 of his 11 shots from the field over 35 minutes.

"I'm happy for coach Sowers, and we put in a lot of work since the summer, and tonight we stayed together and found a way to win," Habib said. "Some of us had not played a game in two years, and after the first couple minutes we were able to settle down and play together."

South Plains would extend its lead to as much as 19 in the final minutes, dropping in 31 of 59 shots in the contest including six 3s. Eiljah Tate netted 15 points and six boards over 32 minutes for the Texans, while Sakho finished with 13 points and Malek Abdelgowad dropped in 10 points and grabbed eight boards.

"We're going to continue to get better on both ends of the court, and I'm glad we will be able to get back to work coming off a win," Sowers said. "When you take talented division one transfers, you have some guys who haven't played a game in nearly two years. Once they can finally get back on the court, they can keep improving and keep pushing forward."

South Plains will play their next four contests on the road beginning with a 4 p.m. matchup against Northern Oklahoma College-Enid on Sunday, Nov. 6 at the Hamilton Field House on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma.