BIG SPRING — The top-ranked South Plains College men's basketball team held Howard College to a season-low scoring total Monday as the Texans edged out the Hawks 53-40 at Dorothy Garrett Coliseum.
South Plains improves to 12-0 on the season and 7-0 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference and returns home Thursday evening to take on Western Texas College at the Texan Dome at 7:30 p.m. Admission to the game is free and can also be seen live at spctexans.com with Michael Wiiest of KLVT Radio Levelland calling the courtside action.
The Texans, who never trailed in the game, jumped out to a 9-0 lead to begin the contest and took a 28-18 lead into the locker room at the midway point, forcing Howard to shoot just 27.9 percent (8-29) in the first 20 minutes, including a 1 of 10 mark from distance.
The defensive effort from South Plains continued in the second half, creating opportunities on the offensive end as they opened their lead to as much as 19 with 10:45 to play in the back half. The Texans forced 12 turnovers in the contest resulting in 18 points on the offensive end as Howard shot just 28.1 percent in the final stint.
The Texans received 28 points from their bench, led by sophomore Myron Gardner's game-high 14 points. Gardner was 6 of 11 from the field, scoring in double figures for the 10th time this season. Philmon Gebrewhit dropped in 12 points off the bench for the Texans to go along with six assists over 29 minutes.
Dalph Panopio bucketed 10 points on 4 of 7 shooting for South Plains while Benjamin Bayela had eight points and five boards. The Texans shot a 41.2 percent clip from the floor with eight players scoring in the contest.