SPC Men Knock Out Defending National Champs

BELTON – Nick Okorie scored 36 points to lead the South Plains College Texans into the championship game of the NJCAA Region V Tournament with a 90-78 win over Midland College Saturday afternoon at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton.

Okorie,, who has committed to Texas Tech, had 13 points in the first half and exploded for 26 in the second half. He was 12 of 21 from the floor and hit five 3-pointers.

The Texans raced out to a 14-4 lead and led by as many as 11 in the first half before Midland battled back to tie things up 40-40 at halftime. The Chaps had one lead in the second half (50-49). The game was tied 61-61 with 9:36 remaining before Okorie scored 11 straight points to help SPC open a double-digit lead. The Chaps never got closer than 8 after that.

Jonathan Hall added 16 points for SPC, while David Tairu scored 11, Luciano de Souza had 8, Landon Tatum added 7, and Carlos Dos Santos and Kendrick Johnson both had 6.

For Midland, Brad Kelleher had 16 and Tyrone Appleton, a Kansas pledge, scored 15.

BOX SCORE