No. 1 Salt Lake edges No. 14 South Plains 77-76 Wednesday in Arizona

MESA, Arizona — The No. 14-ranked South Plains College men's basketball team overcame a 15-point deficit to take a one point lead in the final minutes of Wednesday's top 25 matchup against No. 1 Salt Lake, but a late run from the Bruins would be enough down the stretch as they edged the Texans 77-76 at Theo Heap Gymnasium.

Tailing by 12 to begin the second half, South Plains would get within 10, 48-38 on a layup from Muon Reath with 19:20 to play. Salt Lake would answer and extend its lead to 15, 59-44 with 14:40 to go on a 3 from Andre Mulibea. The Texans responded and trimmed the deficit to eight, 61-53 on a dunk from Christian Coleman with just over 11 minutes remaining.

South Plains would then pull within four, 65-61 on a jumper from Kalifa Sakho with 7:47 to play. Elijah Tate would get the Texans within a single bucket, knocking down a 3 to bring the score to 72-71 in favor of Salt Lake. Following a stop on the defensive end, Tate would give South Plains its first lead of the contest at the 2:10 mark of the second half, dropping in a pair of free throws to give the Texans a 73-72 advantage.

Salt Lake answered on the following possession as Mulibea connected from distance to put the Bruins back up 75-73. Salt Lake would then go up four, 77-73 on a pair of free throws from Alejandro Vasquez with 1:15 to play. South Plains would trim the deficit to one, 77-76 on a 3 from Jaden Harris with 58 seconds to play. Following a turnover from Salt Lake with two seconds remaining, the Texans had one final look for the game winner, but a layup from Coleman rimmed out as the Bruins escaped in the final seconds.

Harris finished with a team-high 18 for South Plains, while Coleman dropped in 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Ismail Habib finished with 14 points and four assists as the Texans shot 40.9 percent from the floor and 27.3 percent from distance.