Texans Move Into NJCAA Semifinals

HUTCHINSON, Kan. - The South Plains College Texans made school history Thursday by defeating the Indian Hills (Iowa) Community College Warriors in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kan.

The win moves the Texas (28-5) into the semifinals for the first time ever. SPC's previous best showing at Nationals was a fifth-place finish. South Plains will take on Seward County (Kan.) in the semifinals Friday at 8 p.m. Seward knocked off Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 68-61 Thursday.

Indian Hills led for much of the first half. Their biggest lead (17-11) came with 8 minutes remaining in the first half. But the Texans clawed their way back and tied things at 19-19 with 3:34 remaining on a jumper by Hugh Mingo. The freshman from Monroe, Louisiana made another shot with 1:35 left to give SPC a 23-22 lead at halftime.

Texan leading scorer Nick Okorie didn't have a point in the first half, but he made up for it in the second half. Okorie knocked down a 3-pointer just 14 seconds into the second half and added another one three minutes later to give SPC a 35-24 lead. Another 3-pointer and a dunk by Luciano de Souza followed by a four-point play by Okorie gave the Texans their largest lead of the game (46-26) with 12:09 remaining.

But much like Wednesday when Georgia Perimeter rallied from a 21-point deficit, the Texans had trouble putting Indian Hills away. The Warriors came back and got within 3 (61-58) with 38 seconds remaining. But free throws by Jonathan Hall, Landon Tatum and de Souza gave SPC enough for the win.

Hall led SPC with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Okorie added 18 points, de Souza had 10, Mingo scored 7, Carlos Dos Santos had 5, David Tairu scored 4 and Tatum added 1.

Friday's other semifinal will feature Salt Lake CC against Three Rivers CC.

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