No. 16 Texans hold off New Mexico Junior College 73-71 Thursday

LEVELLAND — Christian Coleman recorded a game-high 19 points and 11 boards Thursday as No. 16 South Plains rallied past New Mexico Junior College 73-71 at the Texan Dome to improve to 21-5 on the year and 9-3 in league play.

South Plains will be on the road Monday in Clarendon for a 7:30 p.m. matchup with the Bulldogs before returning home on Feb. 23 to take on Western Texas on Sophomore Night at the Dome.

"Winning in this league is hard, and we didn't shoot our best or play our best, but our guys found a way to win this game," South Plains head coach Hayden Sowers said. "We're going to get together tomorrow and work on some things, and we have to continue to press forward. We're going to go on the road Monday and play in a really tough environment against a really good team."

South Plains shot a 44.4 percent clip from the field as Coleman finished nine of 16 from the floor over 29 minutes. Jaden Harris poured in 16 points over 27 minutes, while Ismail Habib chipped in 13 points. Kalifa Sakho netted eight points and seven boards as South Plains outscored NMJC 32-20 inside the paint.

"I've been out for a couple of games, and when I got to come in the game I wanted to make an immediate impact," Coleman said. "Coach Sowers told me to do what I do, and he believes in me. I wanted to help our team win and just get out on the floor and play with my teammates. We had a great game plan tonight, and we tried to go out and execute that plan to the best of our ability."

The Thunderbirds shot just 39.3 percent in the contest and was 33.3 percent from Distance. The Texans forced 18 turnovers on the defensive end, resulting in 16 points offensively. South Plains enjoyed a slight advantage on the glass, outrebounding NMJC 41-37, and tallied 12 points on second-chance opportunities.

"We knew we had to move the ball and play together, and we did that well tonight," Sakho said. "We tried to play hard defensively and shut down their shooters, and we had some success with that. We have to keep listening to our coaches, play hard every night and play together on both ends."