No. 1 South Plains falls to Clarendon 74-72 Thursday

CLARENDON — The top-ranked South Plains College men's basketball team dropped their first game in conference play Thursday, falling to Clarendon College 74-72 at the Bulldog Gymnasium.

South Plains moves to 17-2 on the year and still sit atop the conference standings with a 6-1 mark in the WJCAC. The Texans will return home on Monday in a 7:30 p.m. matchup against No. 15 Odessa College, who fell in the final seconds to New Mexico Junior College on Thursday night in Hobbs.

The South Plains College athletic department would like to invite all junior high and high school boy's and girl's basketball teams from the surrounding area to Monday's games, free of charge. For more information, please contact the athletics office at 806-716-2221.

South Plains struggled with the rock throughout the game, shooting 39 percent from the floor and were 6-for-26 from the 3-point line. Clarendon finished with a 43 percent clip from the field and knocked down 12 3s in the contest.

Gaige Prim led all scorers with 21 points and nine rebounds, bucketing 9 of 13 attempts from the floor in 35 minutes of action for the Texans. Sophomore Chris Orlina poured in 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting while Jonah Antonio and Deon Barett each netted eight points for South Plains.

Ellis Jefferson led Clarendon with 18 points including four 3s while LeAaron Cain finished with 17 points and three boards. The Bulldogs got six points off the bench from Dadou Traore and Donchevell Nugent while Solomon Smith netted five points and grabbed five rebounds.