The South Plains College men’s basketball team traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada to compete in the SLCC Holiday Tournament at Bishop Gorman last week, going 2-0 on the trip.
The Texans took down the College of Southern Nevada, 90-81, and Salt Lake Community College, 81-74.
In their first matchup, the Texans played so well that every player on the active roster saw playing time.
SPC outshot Southern Nevada 50% to 44% from the field and 36% to 29% from three, while also outrebounding them 47-27 in the matchup.
Standouts against Southern Nevada included shooting guard Jaylen Colon with 14 points behind four threepointers made, adding seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Forward Antallah Sandlin’el scored 14 points on 6/8 shooting, adding five rebounds and two assists.
Point guard Zion Pipkin scored 13 points, shooting 4/7 from the field and 4/4 from the free throw line, adding three assists, three rebounds and a steal, while guard Deion Ware recorded 11 points on 50% shooting, adding five assists, a rebound and a steal.
In their second matchup, the Texans dominated the team statistics once again against Salt Lake CC, but turnovers and second chance points made it much closer than it needed to be.
SPC shot 53% from the field and 50% from threepoint range, while holding Salt Lake to 29% from the field and 27% from threepoint range. They also outrebounded them 46-29, but Salt Lake won the turnover margin 183, which led to 23 points off turnovers, and they also outscored SPC 13-5 in second chance points.
The two teams were dead even in free throws made, with 22 a piece, so the ultimate difference in the game was the Texans stellar shooting.
It was an all-around effort as six different Texans scored in double digits, led by point guard Keith Richard with 12 points on 4/6 shooting, adding four rebounds and an assist.
Others included Antallah Sandlin’el with 11 points on 3/7 shooting, going 4/6 from the free throw line, adding 11 rebounds, three assists and a block. Deion Ware had 11 points on 3/5 shooting, going 4/4 from the free throw line, adding three rebounds and an assist.
Guard Micah Bell recorded 10 points on 4/5 shooting, along with three rebounds, an assist and a block, shooting guard Yohandry Ortiz recorded 10 points, powered by a 5/5 free throw effort, and Zion Pipkin recorded 10 points, making 4/4 free throws, adding four assists, a rebound and a steal.
Following the pair of wins, SPC Texans Head Coach Cinco Boone reflected on the trip and his team’s performance.
“I’ve always believed in having great experiences for student athletes that allow them to see the world as they play games. Going to Las Vegas was a great trip for our team as I felt like our preparation, plus the trip and the two games really brought us closer together. We made progress in some areas that have been needing improvement, like shot selection and ball movement on offense, and rebounding,” Coach Boone said. “Our transition defense is something we still need to improve, and now that we are moving the ball better on offense, we have to limit our unforced turnovers. We are pleased with our team because we feel like we haven’t even come close to playing our best basketball, and we are still finding ways to win. We look forward to a short break for Christmas before coming back and getting to conference play. Five of our conference teams are in the top 20 in the country. Every night out will be a war.”
During Christmas break, the Texans sit at 11-2 and hold a six-game win streak, ranked #11 in the country. This team isn’t close to its ceiling, so it will be exciting to see how they progress throughout the rest of the season.
The Texans are back in action on Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m. on the road against conference foe and #10 ranked Odessa College.