The Plainsman Press - South Plains College

Jared Owens, staff writer

The last five outings for the South Plains College Texans has been a bit of a roller coaster ride as they dropped three of the five.

The freshman-dominated Texans have quickly found out what conference road games are all about. The SPC Texan basketball team started the season on fire jumping out to a 17-2 record, including 3-0 in conference play.

Since that start, the Texans have cooled down considerably. The Texans are third currently in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference at 6-3 and 19-6 overall.

The Texans started the slide in Big Spring, Texas, against no. 1 ranked Howard College, suffering an 81-65 setback. Freshman guard Steve Harley led the Texans with 21 points, while freshman guard Jeremy Baker pulled down seven rebounds.

The Texans returned home to rebound for a 79-57 victory against New Mexico Junior College on Feb. 2. Harley continued to have the hot hand, as he led the team with 23 points. Sophomore forward Tavon Nelson chipped in with 17 points and nine rebounds, and freshman guard Joe Harris contributed with 10 rebounds.

On Feb. 6^, the Texans made the trip to Midland to take on Midland College. Conference road games have proven to be tough for the Texans as they dropped a 72-61 decision. The Texans held an early lead at 13-9, but Midland took pulled ahead and never quite looked back. Fourteen turnovers proved to be the Achilles heel for the Texans, as each one made it more difficult for SPC to mount a comeback. Harley continued his solid play, leading the Texans with 20 points, including six consecutive in the first half to give the Texans their only lead of the game.

SPC would than attempt to get a big road win at Odessa College on Feb. 9. The Texans had a game-tying shot go in and out in the final seconds as the Wranglers held on for a 61-59 victory. The road again proved to be too much for SPC. The Texans held a five-point advantage with 11:22 remaining in the game after a big 3-pointer from Jeremy Baker. The Texans were plagued with poor shooting as they didn’t make a single attempt in the final four minutes of the game. Harley led the Texans with 16 points, while sophomore forward Victor Ramalho had a solid game with seven points and 10 rebounds.

Finally, SPC was able to put a ‘w’ in the win column on the road in Roswell, New Mexico on Feb. 13, as the Texans blew out New Mexico Military Institute 108-60.

The Texans took advantage of a loose perimeter defense hitting a season high 12 3- pointers. They started the game with seven unanswered points and never looked back. SPC practically had the game wrapped up by halftime, as they ran off to a 56-27 halftime advantage. SPC had 11 different players chip in with points. The Texans were again led by Harley, who tossed in 19 points, including five 3-pointers. Baker and sophomore forward Kendall Clark each had 17.

The Texans can still put together a strong finish and can play themselves into post-season play. After a trip to Clarendon on the 20^th the Texans can make a huge stride when they return home to take on Howard College at 7:50 p.m. Feb. 23 at the Texan Dome.