HOBBS — Jabori Mcghee and Malique Ewin combined for 40 points Monday as the top-ranked South Plains College men's basketball team pounded No. 18 New Mexico Junior College 76-61 in the conference opener at the Caster Activity Center at Ron Black Court.

South Plains returns home on Thursday when they host New Mexico Military Institute at 6:30 p.m. at the Texan Dome.

"We knew this was going to be a good atmosphere, and we were prepared to come into this type of environment and play our game," Ewin said. "We really focused defensively and did everything we could to keep them from getting open shots. Offensively, our guards were able to set me up really well, and our guards really helped me out tonight and got me some great looks."

Ewin finished six of 13 from the floor, totaling 20 points, and also snagged 14 boards over 34 minutes for the Texans. Mcghee netted 20 points and handed out a game-high six assists, knocking down eight of 14 shots from the field in 34 minutes.

"We had a great week of preparation, and we knew what we had to do to go on the road to a place like this and get a win," Mcghee said. "We have 13 guys and everyone can score, and we practice really hard to try and make the games somewhat easier. We match up with each other in practice, and we try to bring that energy into the game. We needed a good defensive effort tonight, and we got it. We locked in in the second half, and we knew we had to be strong and help each other all over the floor."

JC Curry provided 11 points over 23 minutes coming off the bench for South Plains, while Jermahri Hill finished with eight points and five boards. Jalen Hampton tallied six points and nine rebounds as South Plains shot a 47.4 percent clip from the field and was 36.4 percent from distance.