HOBBS, N.M.—Jordan Brangers scored 24 points and Grantham Gillard chipped in 17 as the No. 1 South Plains College Texans pummeled the New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds 105-60 on Thursday night at the Caster Activity Center.
"I was able to hit my first basket on my first possession with a jab step and a 3, and I knew it'd be a pretty good night," Brangers said. "New Mexico is a good team, especially when you're playing at their place. Coach Green preached all week that it was going to be tough going down there to play. When you go down there and beat them by 40-plus, it's a really nice statement game for us."
The Texans(16-0, 4-0) shot 54 percent in the contest and placed five players in double figures. Raquan Mitchell racked up 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field in 19 minutes while Shawntrez Davis and Roberto Gallinat each bucketed 10 points. Freshman Greg Shead pitched in with six points, seven assists and six rebounds for South Plains, and Josh Webster bucketed four points, hauled in seven boards and dished out seven assists.
"I was just trying to play my game," Gillard said. "My teammates picked me up, and that's how I got going. They gave me good support and I love all my teammates. This was a statement game for us, and we just wanted to play our game. It doesn't matter if we play away or at home, we're trying to play our game and go out there and get it"
South Plains out-rebounded the Thunderbirds(13-5, 1-3) 48-34 on the glass and scored 13 points off 18 New Mexico turnovers. The Texans outscored their counterpart 50-28 inside the paint and got 56 points off the bench.
"I was just trying to get my teammates involved tonight," Shead said. "When you get everyone else involved on the offense, it gives you an opportunity to attack for yourself. We just listened to coach Green today and played our defense. Defense is going to win us games. We know we can score, but defense is going to get us where we want to go."
The Texans will look to stay perfect when they travel to Roswell, N.M. on Monday to take on New Mexico Military Institute. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. MST.