LEVELLAND — With the regular season wrapped up, the South Plains College men's and women's basketball teams will make their postseason debut March 6-9 at the Region V Tournament in Abilene at the Moody Coliseum on the campus of Abilene Christian University.
Earning the top seed in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference, the Lady Texans will tip off at 1 p.m. on Wednesday against Ranger College, the No. 4 seed from the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference.
After a second place finish in league play, the Texans will play as the No. 2 seed from the WJCAC and are slated to take on Temple College, the 3rd seed from the North at 7 p.m. on Thursday night. The Region V Tournament will be streaming live in its entirety at spctexans.com and Michael Wiiest of KLVT Radio Levelland will call the courtside action with pregame slated for 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Lady Texans capped the regular season as co-champions of the WJCAC, ending the regular season with a 27-3 overall record including a 12-2 clip in league play. Averaging 72.1 points per game in conference play, South Plains ranks second in the country in field goal percentage, shooting 48.8 percent from the floor on the year.
Sophomore standout Gabbie Green has done it all for the Lady Texans, leading the team in scoring with 15 points per game and is shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor this season. Hot Springs, Arkansas native Keke Hunter has been an absolute force inside for South Plains, averaging 14.6 points and 10 rebounds per game. Hunter leads the country with 143 offensive rebounds and is second in the NJCAA with 299 total boards.
Ranger enters the postseason with a 20-10 overall record and finished conference play with a 9-7 mark. Averaging 68.9 points per game and shooting 44.6 percent from the floor, Ranger is led by sophomore guard Shan'Qaylia Stanton, who leads the team in scoring with 14.9 points per game and is shooting 43.9 percent from the field.
The Texans head to Abilene as the defending Region V champs after defeating Odessa College in the finals in Lubbock a year ago. South Plains put together a 23-5 record in the regular season including a 12-4 mark in league play. Led by sophomores Gaige Prim and Trey Wade, the Texans are averaging over 84 points per game and shooting 48.5 percent from the floor.
Currently 14-4 away from home this season, Prim leads the Texans with the rock, averaging 20.3 points per game and is shooting nearly 65 percent from the field. Prim has scored in double figures in all but one game this season and will be a catalyst on the offensive end for South Plains in the postseason. Wade is averaging nearly 14 points per game on the year, shooting a 51.5 percent clip from the floor. A 6-7 forward from Marietta, Georgia, Wade has scored in double figures in four of his last five outings.
Averaging 108 points per game and shooting 45.1 percent from the floor, Temple is 24-6 this season and closed out the season with a 10-4 mark in the NTJCAC. Redshirt freshman guard Kedrian Johnson leads the Leopards with 25.1 points per game, scoring a career-high 36 points against Weatherford College on Feb. 9. RJ Mason has also been a problem from opposing defenses this season, averaging over 17 points per game and shooting a 40.7 percent clip from the floor.
Region V Brackets: https://d2o2figo6ddd0g.cloudfront.net/t/i/rq62t3e6n1kaxe/2020_brackets.pdf