#2 Texans erase double dight second half deficit, stun No. 11 Indian Hills 74-68 Friday in Iowa

OTTUMWA, Iowa — Trailing by as much as 10 points in the final seven minutes of regulation, the second-ranked South Plains College men's basketball team answered back to stun No. 11 Indian Hills 74-68 Friday at the Hellyer Center to improve to 11-0 on the season.  

The Texans will close out the road trip on Saturday when they take on Saux Valley at 4:30 p.m.

"We knew we could have success offensively, and when the right time came we were able to execute," Jabori Mcghee said. "On the go-ahead shot, everyone in the gym assumed I was going to try and drive the ball, but I realized my defender was backing up towards the basket, so I pulled up and was able to knock down the shot. Indian Hills hit a lot of shots, and we knew that was going to happen with them playing on their home court. We knew the crowd was going to play a factor in the game, but we found a way to fuel ourselves with the adversity and found a way to win."

Mcghee finished with a  team-high 20 points, including the go-ahead basket with 53 seconds left, capping a 14-2 run from the Texans during the final seven minutes of the contest. Jermahri Hill netted 16 points and four boards for South Plains, knocking down five of 10 shots from the field over 36 minutes.

"Our game plan was to play inside out, and I feel we played well on the offensive end," Hill said. "Our coaches have a lot of faith in our guards, and when we fell down, they trusted us to find ways to get some easy buckets and get to the line. Defensively, we had to tighten up a few things down the stretch, and we are continuing to get better and learn as we go."

Jalen Hampton and Malique Ewin each finished with 13 points, as Hampton recorded seven boards and two steals over 34 minutes. The Texans shot a 48.1 percent clip from the floor and dropped in 18 of 22 shots from the free throw line.

"Our coaching staff came up with a great game plan, and we stuck to it," Hampton said. "We shared the ball offensively and trusted each other to make plays and find the open man. We were able to knock down crucial shots late in the game and find ways to get to the free throw line. Our coaches made some great adjustments on the defensive end, and we were able to turn things around in the second half and create some energy."

South Plains won the battle on the glass, outrebounding the Warriors 39-34, and netted 36 points inside the paint. The Texans forced 14 turnovers on the defensive end, which resulted in 16 points on the other end of the floor. Indian Hills shot just 39 percent from the floor, and struggled at the free throw line, bucketing just six of their 12 attempts from the charity stripe.

"The environment was great, and they have a true home court advantage here, and our guys stayed emotionally steady," South Plains head coach Hayden Sowers said. "I told them before the game that everyone outside of our locker room wants us to lose, and we need to stick together and be the tougher team. All the credit to Indian Hills, and they have one of the best environments in junior college basketball, and that's why we wanted to come up here and play.

"You can't get too high or too low, and we had to find ways to just win the next possession. Our guys stayed together and focused on winning the next play. Glen Mayo made an adjustment to one of our rub plays, and we ran it nearly the entire second half, and credit to him for seeing that through work and film study. Part of our strategy is to drive and get to the free throw line, and in the second half, we just kept pounding the ball and forced the refs to make the calls. I'm happy for our guys, and they wanted to win this one."