Texans Drop Heartbreaker to Howard

LEVELLAND – The Howard College Hawks rallied from a 12-point deficit in the final 6 minutes of the game to defeat the South Plains College Texans 71-69 Monday night at the Texan Dome.

Dan Sencanski hit a bucket with 16 seconds remaining to give the Hawks the win. The Texans had a chance to win the game on a late 3-pointer by Nick Okorie, but the ball rimmed out.

The loss knocked the Texans out of sole possession of first place in the WJCAC. South Plains is now 23-6 overall and 12-3 in conference play.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair with Howard having an early 5 point lead and South Plains leading by as many as 8. The Texans came alive in the second half. Okorie hit a pair of 3-pointers and Jermaine Bolden added a 3 of his own as the Texans went up 47-38. The lead eventually grew to 13 after 3-pointers by Bolden and Steve Harley.

South Plains still led by 12 (65-53) with 6 minutes remaining, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Terrance Hill and another by Corey Allmond brough Howard back within 3. After a Malik Motnii three throw for SPC, the Hawks' next four points came from the free throw line to tie things up with 2:47 remaining. Motnii then hit a bucket in the lane for the Texans, but SPC didn't score again after that.

Howard's Brandon Sampay hit a shot with 53 seconds remaining to tie the score again. The Texans' next possession ended in a turnover which led to Sencanski's game-winning shot.

For South Plains. Bolden led the way with 19 points, while Harley added 16 and Motnii scored 10. Also for the Texans, Okorie and Luciano DeSouza each had 9, Jonathan Hall scored 3, Lu Griffin added 2 and Delawn Armwood had 1.

For Howard, Sean Watson and Hill each scored 22 points.

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