The South Plains College men’s basketball team fell to Midland College 84-75 Saturday afternoon at the Texan Dome, moving to 17-5 on the season and 5-3 in league play.
The Texans will look to get back in the win column on Monday when they host New Mexico Military Institute at 6:30 p.m. at the Dome. Admission to the game is free and can be streamed live at spctexans.com.
SPC shot a 54.5 percent clip from the field, led on the offensive end by Christian Coleman who finished with a team-high 20 points and nine boards over 33 minutes. Jaden Harris netted 17 points, snagged four boards, and dished out three assists, while Ismail Habib chipped in 15 points over 30 minutes.
Midland shot 39.4 percent from the floor, led by Doug Young who poured in a gamehigh 31 points and was 10-for-10 from the free throw line.
Keonte Jones netted 23 points over 40 minutes, while Trent Johnson finished with nine points and five boards.
Four Texans scored in double figures Monday night as the No. 15-ranked South Plains College men’s basketball team drummed New Mexico Military Institute 9465 at the Texan Dome.
South Plains improves to 18-5 on the year and 6-3 in the WJCAC.
“We made shots tonight and found a rhythm, and now we have to take a step forward and get ready for a Howard team that beat us in the first matchup,” South Plains College head coach Hayden Sowers said. “We pressed up on the defensively and switched everything, and it fell in our favor tonight. We needed to gain some confidence, and our guys know how to win, and it’s up to these guys to take the game plan in between these lines for 40 minutes and have the mindset of going 10.”
South Plains’ Jaden Harris led all scorers with 21 points and five assists, connecting on four of five shots from the field, and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Ismail Habib netted 19 points, dished out a game-high seven assists, and pulled in four rebounds, while Malek Abdelgowad netted 13 points and 10 boards over 25 minutes.
“We wanted to come out and move the basketball tonight, and get the defense moving so we could attack downhill and create shots,” Harris said. “They tried to play slow, but we were able to press them and create some turnovers which helped us on the offensive end. It’s all about how you respond, and we were focused on going 1-0 and learning from our mistakes from the previous game.”
Jalen McDonald poured in 11 points coming off the bench as South Plains shot a 59.3 percent clip from the field and knocked down 10 of 20 shots from the 3point line. SPC controlled the interior paint, tallying 40 points inside the paint, and chipped in 15 points off turnovers.
“We did a good job sharing the ball on offense, and everyone was moving and we played as a complete unit tonight,” McDonald said. “Going into the game, coach Sowers wanted us to focus on the defensive side of the ball, and I feel we came out and gave our best effort all around. We beat ourselves the last two games, and were focused on finding our rhythm and playing together for 40 minutes.”