LEVELLAND — Seven players scored in double figures including Myron Gardner's team-high 19 points as No. 1 South Plains College bested Frank Phillips 103-75 Monday night at the Texan Dome.
The Texans improve to 10-0 on the year and 5-0 in conference play as they shift their focus to Thursday night when they host No. 3 Odessa College in a heavyweight matchup at the Texan Dome, with tip slated for 6:30 p.m. Admission to the game is free and the contest will stream live at spctexans.com.
"I thought we played unselfish for the most part tonight and did a good job of making the next pass," South Plains head coach Steve Green said. "We got out and ran a little bit and I thought we controlled the glass well tonight and got quite a few offensive rebounds."
South Plains shot 56.2 percent (41-73) from the floor and a season-high 55.6 percent (15-27) from the 3-point line against the Plansmen. Gardner scored in double figures for the eighth time this season, netting 9 of 14 shots over 23 minutes.
Sophomore big man Yuot Gai dropped in a career-high 18 points on 7 of 8 shooting, while 6-6 guard Benjamin Bayela poured in 18 points and snagged five rebounds, bucketing 8 of 10 shots and was 2 of 4 from distance in 22 minutes.
"Myron and Vonnie were able to drive the ball right down the middle and create open shots," Green said. "Doing that gave us the opportunity to get guys open behind the 3-point line and create open looks. We have to get better defensively and we didn't guard the ball screen too well, but we will get better at that."
6-7 guard Rivaldo Soares tallied 11 points, six rebounds, and dished out a team-high five assists while Jevonnie Scott totaled 10 points and three boards and Dalph Panopio had 10 points, three rebounds, and three assists.
The Texans scored 48 points inside the paint and forced 20 turnovers in the contest resulting in 29 points on the offensive end. South Plains dominated the glass, outrebounding their counterpart 45-28, and held the Plainsmen to a 25 percent (4-16) clip from the 3-point line.
South Plains is coming off their two best offensive performances this season, averaging 98 points per game in their last two outings. The Texans will look to continue their success with the rock Thursday night against Odessa who comes in averaging just over 97 points per game on the year.
"Odessa is a really good team and they play a little unorthodox," Green said. "From what we've seen, they press and play a lot of trap and zone, and they play extremely hard. They are a very good team and we have two more days to get prepared for that one."