Texans Remain In Hunt For WJCAC Title

CLARENDON— The South Plains College Texans rode Che Bob's 32-point, 15-rebound performance to a 98-67 victory over the Clarendon Bulldogs on Thursday night at the Bulldog Gymnasium.

The Texans' Deontae North finished the game with 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting and also hauled in 11 rebounds. Roberto Gallinat would chip in 17 points for South Plains, while Montell McRae had eight.

"The team was looking for me the whole game, and they put me in position to be successful tonight," Bob said. "Coach ran a lot of stuff that I was initiating, and he really stressed how big this game and the next one will be to stay in first place, so we just wanted to come out and jump on them early."

The Texans did just that, as they took a 15-point lead into the locker room after the first 20 minutes. South Plains shot over 54 percent from the floor in the contest and 50 percent from behind the arc, while forcing the Bulldogs to shoot just 28 percent from the floor and 16 percent from the 3-point line.

"I think this was a big win, and a real mature win for us," North said. "We're coming down the stretch of the season with a conference title on the line, so this was big time. He (Bob) scores a lot on the inside, and when I'm making shots on the perimeter it opens up things for him and me. We like to get each other going and make sure the team gets off to a good start."

The Texans came out of the break with their foot on the gas, as they knocked down 21-of-35 shots from the floor and were 7-of-14 from the 3-point line. North would score 12 of his 23 in the final 20 minutes, as the Texans would go on to lead by as much as 25 points at the 2:57 mark of the second half.

South Plains out-rebounded the Bulldogs 49-30 on the glass and scored 54 points inside the paint. With the win on Thursday night, the Texans will now travel to Snyder on February 25 for a matchup with Western Texas College, with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m.

The Texans are currently tied for first in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference with Odessa College, who will travel to Midland on February 22, and host Frank Philips College on February 25.

"We have to stay focused next week and stay locked in," North said. "We can't let them (Western Texas) spoil our season, and we have to understand that that game is really important, because it's the last game of conference, so we need to come out and handle our business."