South Plains College heads to Championship

South Plains shut down all scoring attempts for New Mexico JC and maintained the lead throughout the entire game. Brandon Neel led South Plains in scoring with 20 points, Pat Birt's three-pointers helped in his 17 points. Two more players, Emmanuel Omogbo andAndre Spight, for South Plains made 12 points a piece in the win over the Thunderbirds.

Crashing the boards the Texans brought the fans to their feet when they leaped over the Thunderbirds with multiple slam-dunks keeping New Mexico at zero points for the first three minutes of the game. New Mexico only got as close as four points and that was early in the first half.

Heading to the NJCAA Region V Tournament championship game, South Plains (23-9, 13-3) will take on Howard College after their win over Hill College 81-78. Again South Plains will be taking on a conference rival for the title of Region V Champions. Howard beat South Plains early in the season on the Hawks home court 78-73, but the Texans defeated them in the Texan Dome 90-77 on Feb. 5.

The championship game will be streamed live on www.psblive.com and on KLVTradio.com.

New Mexico JC (23-9, 11-5)
Kimani Jackson 1-2 0-0 2, Jeremy Postell 2-6 1-3 6, Tyler Blount 2-4 3-3 9, Malique Trent 4-13 2-2 11, Jalin Hart 0-1 0-0 0, Randy Haynes 2-6 3-6 8, Nick Billingsley 0-2 0-0 0, Rene Esparza 0-5 0-0 0, Cullen Russo 3-11 3-4 10, Ruben Macias 0-2 0-0 0, Malik Carter 1-3 1-3 3, Ray Barreno 0-1 0-2 0, Joe Lewis 0-1 0-0 0, Karim Diop 2-2 3-3 7. Totals 17-59 16-26 56

South Plains (25-6, 13-3)
Jerron Martin 3-5 0-1 8, Andre Spight 2-10 6-8 12, Pedro Konofino 0-0 0-0 0, Diamante Langston 0-0 4-4 4, Pat Birt 4-9 6-6 17, Emmanuel Omogbo 3-4 6-8 12, Andre Horne 0-1 0-0 0, Brandon Neel 7-12 4-8 20, Marlon Jones 1-1 1-3 3, David Kadiri 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-42 27-38 76

FG%: New Mexico JC .288, South Plains .476. 3-pt FG:New Mexico JC 6-29 (Postell 1-4, Blount 2-4, Trent 1-6, Hart 0-1, Haynes 1-5, Billingsley 0-1, Russo 1-5, Macias 0-2, Lewis 0-1), South Plains 9-22 (Martin 2-4, Spight 2-6, Birt 3-8, Horne 0-1, Neel 2-3). Rebounds: New Mexico JC 31 (Russo 7), South Plains 41 (Omogbo 18). Fouls New Mexico JC 30, South Plains 24. Fouled out: Trent . Technical: none. Assists: New Mexico JC 6 (Postell 3), South Plains 11 (Omogbo 3). Steals: New Mexico JC 9 (Trent 2, Russo 2), South Plains 8 (Neel 2, Kadiri 2). Blocked shots: New Mexico JC 0, South Plains 4 (Spight 2, Jones 2). Turnovers: New Mexico JC 19, South Plains 23. Attendance: 0.