With conference play reaching the midway point, the South Plains College Texans are looking for another playoff bid and are still in the hunt for a Western Junior College Athletic Conference championship. 

Since the Christmas break the Texans are 11-2 and have an overall record of 20-5, including a 68-39 victory against, New Mexico Military Institute Broncos on Feb. 7.

The Broncos jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, but SPC’s Leandro Buboltz responded with a 3-pointer to give the Texans a 3-2 lead.  The Texans were able to gain some momentum after that when sophomore Julian Richardson knocked down a 3-pointer with 14:07 remaining left in the half that gave the Texans a 9-5 lead.  SPC held NMMI scoreless for the next 5:25 and scored nine points of their own during the stand and held a 16-5 lead with 9:34 remaining.

SPC ended the first half holding NMMI scoreless for the last 4:35 and went on a 12-0 run during that time.  With the score 29-16, SPC had one possession left before the half ended.  With seconds remaining, SPC’s Tiago Souza found Julian Richardson for a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that gave the Texans a 32-16 lead.

After the half, SPC kept rolling along, only allowing NMMI to get within 15 throughout the entire half.  Dennard Abraham got things started for the Texans in the second half when he rebounded a missed jump shot by Leandro Buboltz and went back up strong to give the Texans a 34-16 lead.

The Texans never looked back from there.  NMMI went through another scoring drought, this one lasting 2:06, when finally Jake White hit a three pointer with 12:35 remaining to put the score 42-28 in favor of the Texans.

With White’s 3-pointer giving the Broncos a shred of momentum, all of it was wiped away when Broncos Head Coach Reggie Franklin received a technical foul for arguing a referee’s reluctance to blow the whistle on a play he thought his post was fouled down low.  The technical put Leandro Buboltz at the line for two free throws.  All though he only made one, that was enough to keep the Broncos off of the Texans’ heals for the rest of the game. 

The Texans shot 44 percent from the field (24-of-55), while holding the Broncos to only 30 percent (14-of-46).

The game marked the end of the first half of WJCAC conference play for the Texans, who ended on a strong note.  After the NMMI victory, the Texans continued their winning ways, defeating Odessa College 73-47.

The closest the Wranglers ever able to get to the Texans was with the score tied 4-4 with 18:52 remaining in the first half.  After that, the Texans orchestrated a 22-5 run over the next 13 minutes, taking a 26-9 lead with 5:35 remaining in the first half.  They never looked back from there.

In the second half, the Texans got out to leads as big as 31 points as they continued their dominance over Odessa.  Jelani Lawrence led the Texans with 18 points.  Sophomore Dennard Abraham pitched in with a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

SPC shot 48.3 percent from the field (28-of-58), and held the Wranglers to 36 percent (18-of-50).  The rebound department was easily won by the Texans, who pulled down 46 rebounds to OC’s 27.

Buboltz led SPC in scoring with 15 points.  Souza came off the bench to score 12 points, and Julian Richardson contributed 11 points for the Texans.

The next game would not go as smoothly for the Texans, as they needed overtime to defeat New Mexico Junior College, 86-76.

With only 19 seconds remaining in the second half, NMJC’s Ed Millard knocked down a jump shot that would give the Thunderbirds a 72-70 lead.  The Texans then called a timeout to give Souza a look at a possible game-tying shot.  Souza’s shot fell short, however, but the ball was knocked out of bounds after being touched by a NMJC player, giving the Texans 0.8 seconds to get off one final shot.  Dennard Abraham caught the ball and only had one attempt in a catch and shoot situation.  Abraham sunk the shot to tie the game at 72 and send the game into overtime.

Things immediately started going SPC’s way in the overtime.  Buboltz hit a 3-pointer within the opening seconds of the extra period to give SPC a 75-72 lead.

SPC would hold on to defeat NMJC 86-76 as they outscored the Thunderbirds 14-4 in the overtime period.  Lawrence led the Texans in scoring with 24 points and Souza contributed 18.

The exhilarating win kept SPC in a tie for first place in WJCAC play with Frank Phillips.  Both teams currently own identical 7-2 records with five conference games remaining, and the two teams will meet on Feb. 21.

On Jan. 17, the Texans opened up conference play with a 69-63 loss to Odessa, but bounced back nicely to easily defeat New Mexico Junior College 80-47 on Jan. 20.

The Texans handed the Midland College Chaps their first conference loss on Jan. 24, defeating them 80-65.  The Texans jumped out to a quick 19-3 lead, and held Midland scoreless for 6:50.  During Midland’s drought, Souza went 3-3 from the 3-point arc and had 11 points during that run.

The Chaps responded with a run of their own, however, gaining some momentum off a huge dunk by Ivory Clark.  Midland got within five with the score 19-14, before the Texans turned it up a notch again, going on a 8-2 run and putting the score at 27-16 with 4:30 remaining in the half. 

Souza fouled Midland’s Alonzo Hinds, putting him at the line to shoot two free throws.  Hinds made 1 of the 2 free throws, cutting the Texans’ lead to 30-19.  On SPC’s ensuing possession, Darral Payton scored to put the Texans up 32-19, but Hinds responded again for Midland, making a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 32-22 with only seconds remaining in the half.

The Texans hurried the ball down the floor to try to get one final shot off.  The ball ended up in Joao Victor Romahlo’s hands and he was fouled as he was shooting when the buzzer went off at the end of the half.  Romahlo sank both free throws, putting the score at 34-22 at the half.

The Texans remained in control the rest of the game, only allowing Midland to get within 11 points throughout the second half.  With 6:53 remaining in the game, Buboltz was fouled by Clark, putting him at the free throw line.  Buboltz missed both free throws, but on the second miss SPC rebounded the ball. 

In a strange turn of events, however, Midland’s Alonzo Hinds stole the ball.  Instead of starting a fast break to his own end of the court, Hinds sprinted back towards SPC’s basket and made a lay-up, which counted for SPC, making the score 59-44.

Midland began fouling soon after in an attempt to get more possessions to cut the deficit. 

The deficit, however, was too much for Midland to come back from.  South Plains went on to a fairly easy 80-65 victory.  SPC shot 49 percent from the field (25-of-54), and held Midland to 39 percent (22-of-56).  The Texans forced Midland to commit 21 turnovers.

On Jan. 27, the Texans took on the Frank Phillips Plainsmen in a game that they lost 77-72.  Lawrence led the Texans with 18 points, while Richardson put in 15 and Souza dropped in 12.

With the game close and the Texans down 55-54, Lawrence was called for an intentional foul that swung the momentum in the favor of the Plainsmen.  The Plainsmen went on to score nine straight points and took a 64-54 lead with 5:26 remaining in the game.

The Texans were unable to come back from the 10-point deficit, and lost their second conference game of the season.

The next game, however, Texans were able to bounce back strongly, routing conference leader Clarendon 89-66.

Souza led the Texans with 23 points and shot 5-of-8 from beyond the 3-point line.  Fellow sophomore Lawrence dropped in 17 points and shot 8-of-12 from the field.

SPC orchestrated a 17-1 run to take a 21-5 lead with 12:19 left in the first half.  The Texans took a comfortable 49-30 lead into the locker room at halftime and were able to hold off the Bulldogs throughout the rest of the game, beating them 89-66.

The Texans shot 54.2 percent (32-of-59) from the field, while holding Clarendon to a lowly 31.3 percent (20-of-64).  After the Clarendon win, the Texans took on the Howard College Hawks, defeating them 66-56.

Abraham led the Texans in scoring by contributing 22 points from off the bench.  Souza did what he does best, scoring 17 points on 5-from-8 shooting from beyond the arc.  The Texans shot 55.3 percent from the field (26-of-47) and held the Hawks to just 38.8 percent (19-of-49).

From Jan. 7-10, the Texans were in Florida, going 3-0 with wins against Seminole, Daytona Beach, and St. Johns River community colleges.

The Texans look to finish the rest of conference play on a strong note and earn a bid to the Region V tournament in Lubbock from March 10-13.  The top four teams in the conference will earn the privilege to play in the tournament, with the winner advancing to the NJCAA tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.