South Plains Men Drop First Game of Season

ODESSA – Delrico Lane hit two free throws with eight seconds remaining to lift the Odessa College Wranglers to a 67-65 upset win over the No. 3 ranked South Plains College Texans Monday in Odessa.

The loss was the first of the season for the Texans, who are now 16-1 overall and 4-1 in WJCAC play. Odessa improved to 16-2 and 3-1 in conference.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair. There were 11 lead changes and six ties and neither team had greater than a 4-point lead. Odessa hit a late field goal to take a 26-25 lead into halftime.

The Wranglers came out quickly in the second half and built a 6-point lead (34-28). Nick Okorie scored 8-straight points including a pair of 3-pointers as SPC regained the lead, but another run by Odessa put them up by 8 (48-40) with 12:38 remaining. After a timeout, the Texans regrouped and went on an 11-0 run that included field goals by Luciano de Souza, Okorie, Landon Tatum and Kendrick Johnson.

From there, the lead changed hands four times. Okorie hit a shot with 18 seconds to tie things at 65-65, but Lane's free throws gave Odessa the final margin.

For SPC, Okorie led the way with 25 points, Tatum scored 10, De Souza had 9, David Tairu scored 8, Johnson added 6, Lu Griffin had 3, and Jonathan Hall and Hugh Mingo both scored 2.

The Texans will be at home Thursday when they host New Mexico Military Institute at 7 p.m.

BOX SCORE