Henderson's buzzer beating 3 saves No. 1 SPC
January 27, 2012
HOBBS, N.M. - With just over a second remaining in overtime and the No. 1 ranked South Plains College Texans trailing by two points, sophomore Marshall Henderson curled around to the near corner of the court, caught Devonte Smith's inbounds pass and quickly let off the shot that saved South Plains from suffering their first loss of the season as the Texans shocked New Mexico 79-78 in overtime at the Caster Activity Center.
As miraculous as the overtime victory was, it seemed improbable that there would even be extra time as New Mexico led by four with just under 20 seconds to go in regulation.
New Mexico's Alex Phillips converted both double bonus free throws after drawing a foul from SPC's Tymell Murphy, giving the Thunderbirds a four point lead. Smith then pushed the ball up the court and found Henderson who nailed a deep 3 to bring the Texans back to within a single point with only 10 seconds to go.
Henderson then immediately fouled Phillips on the inbounds pass. Phillips, however, converted only 1-of-2, to give SPC an opportunity to try to win the ballgame on their final possession.
With time winding down, Smith again found Henderson who was very well guarded. Henderson shot an awkward 3-point attempt that got stuck in between the rim and the backboard. However, a whistle was blown and a foul was called on New Mexico's Desmond Lee to send Henderson to the line for three free throws.
Henderson nailed his first, bringing SPC back to within one point. His second attempt rattled around the rim and was no good. His third attempt was and the two teams went to the overtime period.
With the score knotted up a 76 apiece in overtime, things again went bleak for SPC as Henderson had a shot blocked with New Mexico taking advantage, taking the two-point lead that setup Henderson's heroics.
The contest was intense and featured 17 ties and 24 lead changes, including the overtime period.
Henderson finished with a game high 32 points on 11-of-29 from the field while playing all but less than 2-minutes of the game. Tymell Murphy had a solid night with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and also pulled down seven boards. Stanton Kidd scored 13 points, pulled down eight rebounds and also had two blocks and two steals while Smith finished the game with nine points, eight rebounds, and eight assists playing all 45 minutes of the contest.
South Plains will again put their No. 1 ranking and undefeated season on the line Monday, January 26 when they host Howard College at the Texan Dome. Howard (14-4, 3-1) knocked off eighth-ranked Odessa College Thursday night.
Tip-off for Monday's WJCAC clash is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. and will feature a live video stream accessible at www.spctexans.com. Fans can also listen to the contest by tuning their radio to KLVT 1230 AM or on the internet at www.hprnetwork.com. HPRN's Michael Wiiest will call the courtside action.
Best Western South Plains Inns and Suites is Monday's game sponsor and have donated t-shirts that will be thrown to the crowd by the Texan Cheerleaders as well as an iPod that will be given to a lucky fan at halftime.
South Plains (19-0, 4-0)
Deshaunt Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Derrell Edwards 0-1 0-1 0, Devonte Smith 4-12 0-1 9, Stanton Kidd 5-8 3-4 13, Marshall Henderson 11-29 6-7 32, Tymell Murphy 6-8 2-2 14, Greg Gainey1-5 1-2 3, Malcolm Miller 0-3 0-2 0, Darius Harris 2-2 0-2 4, Anthony Walker 2-2 0-0 4, Alex Giraudier 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-70 12-21 79
New Mexico (14-6, 2-2)
Lorelle Waters 1-1 0-0 2, Rashawn Mitchell 0-2 0-3 0, Marvin Binney 3-5 5-6 12, Alex Phillips 5-9 6-8 18, Desmond Lee 1-9 3-4 5, Alexander Ovcharenko 1-3 0-0 2, Robert Turner 1-2 0-0 3, Dequan Hicks 6-10 5-7 17, Josh Shelton 4-7 2-2 11, Ryan Okwudibonye 1-3 0-0 2, Jaqwaylon Davenport 1-3 4-6 6. Totals 24-54 25-36 78
SCORE BY PERIODS 1st 2nd OT1 TOTAL
South Plains 33 39 7 79
New Mexico 39 33 6 78
FG%: South Plains .443, New Mexico .444. 3-pt FG:South Plains 5-19 (Smith 1-1, Kidd 0-1, Henderson 4-14, Murphy 0-1, Miller 0-2), New Mexico 5-15 (Mitchell 0-1, Binney 1-2, Phillips 2-4, Lee 0-3, Ovcharenko 0-1, Turner 1-2, Shelton 1-2). Rebounds: South Plains 44 (Smith 8, Kidd 8, Miller 8), New Mexico 32 (Mitchell 8). Fouls South Plains 27, New Mexico 18. Fouled out: Henderson Walker Harris Shelton . Technical: Henderson. Assists: South Plains 12 (Smith 8), New Mexico 14 (Hicks 6). Steals: South Plains 8 (Henderson 3), New Mexico 9 (Binney 5). Blocked shots: South Plains 6 (Kidd 2), New Mexico 4 (Binney 2, Hicks 2). Turnovers: South Plains 18, New Mexico 14