The South Plains College Texans basketball team took on Northern Oklahoma College-Enid in the first round of the NJCAA Division 1 National Championship Tournament this past Sunday in Hutchinson, Kansas, resulting in a heartbreaking 81-78 overtime loss for SPC. The game was closely contested throughout its entirety, seeing 11 lead changes and six ties as the teams exchanged blows. NOC-Enid outscored SPC in the first half by two, and the Texans returned the favor by doing the same in the second half to send it to overtime, which NOC-Enid won 11-8.
In the team statistics, the Texans bested NOC-Enid 43% to 36% in three-point shooting, 19-12 in points off turnovers and 26-7 in bench points. Meanwhile, NOCEnid bested SPC 42% to 38% in field goal shooting, 75% to 63% in free throw shooting, 42-40 in rebounds, 19-15 in assists, 14-16 in turnovers, 12-11 in second chance points and 24-22 in points in the paint. The teams tied at four fastbreak points apiece.
“Unfortunately, our team had a few injuries from the Regional Tournament weekend that lingered into the National Tournament game that really affected us,” Texans Head Basketball Coach Cinco Boone said. “We knew coming into the game how well Enid had been shooting the ball from all five positions on the floor. They really came out and stayed hot despite our efforts to contain and contest their shooters. It was a game of runs; our kids never quit and forced overtime. We missed too many free throws, open shots and layups, and ended up losing the game. I’m proud of our guys and their efforts but disappointed that we didn’t perform at our best when it mattered in the month of March.”
Even though it’s a disappointing result, the Texans can still be of their efforts playing short-handed and still nearly winning.
Standouts in the absence of their teammates included Antallah Sandlin’el with 19 points behind five threepointers made and a 4/7 free throw effort, adding eight rebounds and two assists, Deion Ware with 18 points behind three three-pointers made and a ¾ free throw effort, adding five assists, five rebounds and a steal, Keith Richard with 16 points behind 9/11 free throws made, adding six rebounds, five assists and four steals, and Micah Bell with nine points, four rebounds, an assist and a block.
Other Texans’ stat lines included Jaylen Colon with six points, three rebounds and two assists, Yohandry Ortiz with five points and four rebounds, Harouna Coulibaly with three points and a steal, Alexandre K’Medehouto with two points, two rebounds, a steal and a block, and Aliou Maiga with six rebounds and two blocks.
The loss eliminates the Texans from the postseason and concludes their season at 24-8 overall, 12-4 in conference play and 6-3 in regional play, which Coach Boone reflected on.
“I’m really proud that we were able to qualify for the National Tournament in my first year here at SPC,” Coach Boone said. “I thought our team took huge strides in the months of Jan. and Feb. and did a good job of keeping consistent effort in practice all the way to the end. Personally, I learned a lot with my first-year coaching in this league and I’m really excited to make some adjustments to take our team to the next step next season.”