Texans rally, outlast New Mexico Junior College 65-58 Wednesday in Arizona

MESA, AZ — Malek Abdelgowad recorded a career-high 16 points as the South Plains College men's basketball team rallied in the second half to top conference foe New Mexico Junior College 65-58 Wednesday in their final game of the Fiesta Bowl Junior College Shootout at Theo Heap Gymnasium.

Improving to 6-6 on the season, the Texans will close out a four-game road stint on Thursday when they square off with Chandler-Gilbert Community College at 12 p.m. MST in Chandler, Arizona.

Trailing 40-35 at the midway point, South Plains ripped off a 6-0 run to begin the second half and take a 41-40 lead on a pair of free throws from Abdelgowad with 17:29 to play. The Thunderbirds would answer and retake the lead, 48-47 on a layup from Jordan Booker with 11:47 remaining. South Plains responded, utilizing a 9-0 run capped by a pair of free throws from Marcus Burnett to take a 56-48 lead with 7:04 left.

New Mexico JC (8-7) would trim the deficit to three, 56-53 at the 6:06 mark as Tommy Chatman connected on a trey from the top of the key. South Plains would get a little breathing room when Savion Gallion dropped in a 3 of his own to put the Texans up 61-53 with 2:39 to go. The Thunderbirds would get within five with 24 ticks left on a 3 from Booker, but it wouldn't be enough as Kieves Turner closed out the contest with a pair of free throws in the final seconds.

Abdelgowad finished 7 of 9 from the field to go along with five boards over 22 minutes. Gallion totaled 14 points, connecting on 5 of 9 shots over 20 minutes. Burnett totaled 13 points, bucketing 4 of 8 shots, and was 4 of 5 from the free throw line. The Texans finished 47.9 percent from the floor and were 15 of 18 from the charity stripe.

SPC tallied 24 points on 16 turnovers from New Mexico JC and poured in 32 points inside the paint. South Plains received 24 points from their bench, netted 12 points via the fastbreak, and held a slight 30-28 advantage on the glass.