Levelland— The South Plains College Texans fell to New Mexico Junior College 73-70 Saturday afternoon at the Texan Dome in Levelland.

The Texans held the Thunderbirds to 26 percent shooting in the first half and took a 34-23 into the locker room at halftime, but a late surge from New Mexico (13-5, 3-1) in the final frame allowed them to escape with a three-point conference win.

"We couldn't stop them when we needed to, and they kept changing up defenses which caused a lot of indecision in our guard play," South Plains College head coach Steve Green said. "We could never really get into any kind of rhythm, even when we had a 10 or 12-point lead, it was kind of fragmented. We're in a slump right now and are not playing good, and it started with the selfish play at Odessa, and it's continued. Until we get out of that, it's going to be really ugly basketball."

Marlon Jones led the Texans (11-6, 2-2) in scoring, finishing the game with 17 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Roberto Gallinat was 3-for-6 from the field and finished the contest with 11 points and three boards for South Plains, while Montell McRae and Diamante Langston each knocked down seven points for the Texans.

New Mexico's Randy Haynes led all scorers in the game with 23 points while also hauling in 10 rebounds, and Taylor Blount finished with 15 points and three boars. Jalin Hart chipped in 13 points for New Mexico, while Nnamdi Okoro and El Hadji Dieng each finished with five points.

The Texans will look to rebound when they host New Mexico Military Institute at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, January 11 at the Texan Dome.