LEVELLAND—Raquan Mitchell scored a career-high 26 points while Jordan Brangers bucketed 21 as the No. 1 South Plains College Texans improved to 21-0 on the season and 9-0 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference following an 112-87 dismantling of Midland College on Thursday night at the Texan Dome.
"I didn't play very well last game and I was just trying to get my groove back," Mitchell said. "My teammates helped me a lot tonight. Josh and Jordan were really sharing the ball and getting everyone involved. We had a huge crowd tonight and we felt their support tonight. We didn't want to start out slow and have to fight our way back. We wanted to start fast tonight."
The Texans did just that as they jumped out to a 60-30 lead at the midway point after shooting 59 percent from the field and 45 percent from the perimeter in the first half. Brangers scored 19 of his 21 in the first 20 minutes with Mitchell shooting 4-of-5 from the field totaling 13 points before the break. The Texans were just as effective on the defensive end, forcing the Chaparrals to shoot just 35 percent from the floor and 21 percent from the 3-point line in the contest.
South Plains' Shawntrez Davis recorded a double-double as the 6-foot-9 forward from Atlanta went 7-of-8 from the field, finishing the contest with 16 points and 10 boards. Jahlil Tripp chipped in 12 points and pulled in four rebounds for the Texans, while Josh Webster scored six points and dished out 13 assists.
"I felt like I had a good week of practice and my teammates found me tonight," Davis said. "We just really wanted to come out tonight and play as a team, because we feel like when we do that nobody can stop us. Everybody seemed to be open because we have guys that can drive and get it to our shooters. We have a big one next week at Odessa, and if we come out and play as a team we can pull it out."
South Plains shot 45 percent in the back half of the contest and continued their offensive dominance. The Texans forced 18 turnovers and facilitated the basketball on the opposite end with 23 total assists. The Texans passed the century mark in points for the 12th time this season on Thursday night and will look to continue their offensive brilliance when they travel to Frank Phillips and Odessa next week.
"We got out ahead and made a couple of shots and really couldn't do anything wrong in the beginning," South Plains head coach Steve Green said. "I thought we were pretty aggressive defensively holding them to 30 points in the first half, and I think it's pretty good when we're scoring 60. Raquan brings a lot of energy, and he got out and started running and Josh got him the ball and some easy baskets. We told him if he can make all the other plays the 3s will become easier."