Late second half run helps Texans pull away from New Mexico T-Birds

The game was significantly closer than the final score indicated.


Behind a successful drive inside the paint by Tymell Murphy and then another 3-point goal by Henderson, South Plains led 16-6 less than 7-minutes into the contest. The T-Birds answered with an 8-0 to get right back into the contest.

South Plains eventually took a seven point lead to the locker room, 42-35.

Upon returning from the locker room, both teams played fairly evenly as New Mexico got no closer than three early in the second period and the Texans led by no more than 11 points just beyond the midway point.

Sophomore Malcolm Miller changed that as his 3-point bucket with 5:20 remaining in the ball game began a rally that quickly put the game out of reach. 

On the next trip down, a steal by Miller would set up a Yanick Moreira basket. Moreira would score moments later on a feed from Devonte Smith, giving the Texans a 15-point cushion.

They were not even close to being done as baskets by Stanton Kidd, Devonte Smith, and Henderson's final 3-pointer put the game out of reach. With only 2-minutes to play, the Texans turned a close contest into a rout as they led 82-60.

New Mexico would be unable to score another basket and the Texans went on to win 85-60 after Henderson went 2-of-2 from the line and Smith made 1-of-2 in the final minutes.

Yanick Moreira recovered from a quiet first half, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds to record his first double-double since November 25. Kidd finished only a point shy from recording his fourth double-double of the season.

As a team, the Texans made 26-of-55 (.473) shots from the field in a physical game that featured 45 personal fouls and 63 free throw attempts combined for both teams. South Plains out-rebounded New Mexico by a 44-33 margin.

With the win, South Plains improves to 26-0 overall on the season and 11-0 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference. New Mexico falls to 19-8 and 7-4.

The No. 1 ranked Texans return to the hardwood on Thursday, February 23 when they travel to Big Spring, Texas, for a showdown with Howard College. The Hawks defeated Odessa 69-59 and remain only 2-games behind the Texans in the conference standings. A victory over Howard College would clinch the Texans first WJCAC title since the 2006-07 season. 

South Plains came away with a 65-62 victory over Howard in their first meeting at the Texan Dome January 30.

Live video of Thursday's action will be broadcast live at www.spctexans.com. KLVT 1230 AM will provide live audio that can also be accessed at www.klvtradio.com. KLVT's Michael Wiiest will call the courtside action for both broadcasts. Game time is set for a 7:45 p.m. tip-off.


New Mexico (19-8, 7-4)
Lorelle Waters 0-2 1-2 1, Marvin Binney 2-8 0-0 4, Alex Phillips 1-7 5-8 7, Desmond Lee 3-11 6-7 13, Alexander Ovcharenko 0-2 0-1 0, Kevin Chandler 0-0 0-0 0, Robert Turner 4-8 3-3 13, Dequan Hicks 6-13 0-0 12, Ryan Okwudibonye 1-2 2-4 4, Jaqwaylon Davenport 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 20-57 17-25 60

South Plains (26-0, 11-0)
Deshaunt Walker 0-2 0-0 0, Yanick Moreira 6-16 3-6 15, Devonte Smith 2-2 7-10 11,Stanton Kidd 3-7 3-4 9, Marshall Henderson 8-19 9-10 30, Tymell Murphy 3-3 3-4 9, Greg Gainey 1-2 0-2 2, Malcolm Miller 3-4 0-0 9, Terrence Durham 0-0 0-2 0, Alex Giraudier 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-55 25-38 85
SCORE BY PERIODS 1st 2nd TOTAL
New Mexico 35 25 60
South Plains 42 43 85

FG%: New Mexico .351, South Plains .473. 3-pt FG:New Mexico 3-12 (Binney 0-1, Phillips 0-1, Lee 1-4, Ovcharenko 0-2, Turner 2-4), South Plains 8-21 (Walker 0-2, Kidd 0-2, Henderson 5-14, Miller 3-3). Rebounds: New Mexico 33 (Davenport 7), South Plains 44 (Kidd 11). Fouls New Mexico 25, South Plains 20. Fouled out: Binney . Technical: MOREIRA. Assists: New Mexico 2 (Turner 1, Davenport 1), South Plains 9 (Smith 6). Steals: New Mexico 2 (Binney 1, Lee 1), South Plains 6 (Henderson 4). Blocked shots: New Mexico 1 (Hicks 1), South Plains 4 (Moreira 2, Kidd 2). Turnovers: New Mexico 12, South Plains 11.