Upon returning from halftime with a seven point advantage, 44-37, it looked like the Texans were on the verge of putting the game away early as they quickly extended their lead to 14 points less than five minutes into the second period. A 10-0 Midland run that was capped by a Jerikious Bradley 3-point goal quickly cut the Texan lead to only four. Moments later the SPC lead evaporated to only a single point with 12:25 remaining on the clock. 

Moreira and Henderson helped the Texans work out of their scoring funk by combining for 11 points over the next three minutes to push the SPC lead back to eight. Moreira began by following up a 1-of-2 trip to the free throw line with a bucket in the paint and then found Henderson for the first of back-to-back 3-point goals. Moriera capitalized on an offensive rebound by Malcolm Miller when he made another basket in the paint to give the Texans a 70-62 lead.

Henderson reenergized the Texan fan base at the 8-minute mark when he stole the ball from Midland's Majok Majok, taking it all the way and finishing with a reverse jam.

Up by six points with just over 3-minutes to go in the contest, Smith found Miller open for 3 and - similar to his big shot last month against then No. 5 ranked Odessa - Miller buried the shot, giving the Texans an 83-74 advantage. 

Midland was able to get back to with five, but after Stanton Kidd pushed the SPC lead back to seven Smith came up with a steal of Melvin Tabb and moments later Tymell Murphy swiped the ball away from Tabb again, forcing Midland to begin fouling.

South Plains only made 5-of-8 from the free throw line down the stretch, but it was enough to hold off the Chaps and keep a 23-game unbeaten streak alive.

Henderson finished the game making 9-of-17 shots from the field and was also 10-of-12 from the free throw line. He converted a 4-point play early in the first half.

The Texans have another big contest on Monday as they are scheduled to travel to Odessa for another top-10 rematch with the Wranglers. South Plains beat the then No. 5 ranked Wranglers 71-62 January 19 at the Texan Dome. Odessa (21-3, 6-2) is now the No. 10 ranked team in all of the NJCAA and are winners of their last four, including an 86-72 defeat of Frank Phillips College Thursday night. The Wranglers last loss came in a 91-88 overtime loss at Howard January 26.

South Plains College returns to the Texan Dome February 16 when they host Frank Phillips College.


Midland (16-6, 4-4)
Colan Weasby 0-2 0-0 0, Jarekious Bradley 6-9 6-6 21, Willis Nicholson 2-6 0-0 5, Tre Bowman 9-14 9-11 30, Mike Taylor 0-2 0-0 0, Kelvin Agee 2-12 1-2 5, Majok Majok 2-6 0-0 4, Anthony Norris 0-2 0-0 0, Brandon Lucas 1-1 0-0 2, Melvin Tabb 8-9 0-3 16. Totals 30-63 16-22 83

South Plains (23-0, 8-0)
Deshaunt Walker 1-1 0-0 2, Yanick Moreira 8-11 3-7 19, Devonte Smith 4-6 8-14 16,Stanton Kidd 2-4 0-0 4, Marshall Henderson 9-17 10-12 32, Tymell Murphy 0-0 4-6 4, Greg Gainey 2-3 1-3 5, Malcolm Miller 2-6 0-0 6, Terrence Durham 0-2 0-0 0, Anthony Walker 1-1 0-0 2, Alex Giraudier 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-52 26-42 90
SCORE BY PERIODS 1st 2nd TOTAL
Midland 37 46 83
South Plains 44 46 90

FG%: Midland .476, South Plains .558. 3-pt FG:Midland 7-19 (Weasby 0-1, Bradley 3-5, Nicholson 1-3, Bowman 3-6, Agee 0-4), South Plains 6-18 (Moreira 0-1, Kidd 0-1, Henderson 4-11, Miller 2-5). Rebounds: Midland 42 (Bradley 10), South Plains 30 (Miller 6). Fouls Midland 24, South Plains 19. Fouled out: none. Technical: none. Assists: Midland 9 (Nicholson 3), South Plains 12 (Smith 6). Steals: Midland 8 (Weasby 2, Bowman 2, Agee 2), South Plains 12 (Henderson 5). Blocked shots: Midland 1 (Norris 1), South Plains 4 (Miller 2). Turnovers: Midland 20, South Plains 15.