LEVELLAND — Jordan Brangers tied a career-high with 38 points as the No. 3 South Plains College men's basketball team walloped Coastal Bend College 104-78 on Saturday at the Texan Dome.
Brangers also tied his school single-game 3-point record with 10 3s as the Texans shot an unprecedented 48 percent from behind the arc. Brangers finished 14-for-23 from the field and 10 of 15 from 3 in 27 minutes. Houston native Greg Shead set two career-highs with 14 points and eights assists, knocking down 6 of 12 shots from the field over 37 minutes.
Jamir Coleman went 6-for-10 from the floor as the 6-foot-6 San Antonio product totaled 16 points and 12 boards. Marcel Thompson and Ben Perez each had 13 points for the Texans (2-2) while Mykhailo Yogodin chipped in six points and hauled in four boards.
"We took a tough loss last night and coach Green preached to us to come out with a lot more energy, and I think we did that today," Brangers said. "We were trying to find open shots and the rim looked big for just about all of us today. We need to get back to work in practice next week and work on getting stops and being a complete team."
South Plains opened the contest with an 8-0 run capped by a jumper from Brangers at the 18:18 mark of the first half. Coleman opened the lead to 18 with a 3-ball from the wing with 13:07 left. Brangers would then push the lead to 21 with a 3 from the top of the key with 6:40 remaining before the break. South Plains Shot 55 percent from the floor in the first half and held the Cougars to a 35 percent shooting mark in the first 20 minutes.
"We just tried to get to work early on and share the ball," Shead said. "When you find good looks good things start to happen. We know we needed to get back in a rhythm and it felt good to come out and play as a team today. We have to stay focused and get better as a team if we're going to end up where we want to be at the end of the year."
South Plains continued to find the bottom of the net in the second half knocking down 19 of 37 shots in the final frame. A Perez' 3-ball gave the Texans a 72-49 lead with 12:12 remaining. Brangers pushed the lead to 25 with a trey with 9:02 left. Yogodin would hit a runner in traffic to extend the lead to 104-75 with under a minute to play as the Texans eclipsed the century mark for the first time this season.
The Texans shot 53 percent from the field as a team and dished out a season-high 21 assists. The Cougars' Malik Amos finished with 22 points and was 6 of 10 from 3 while Dajuan Madden bucketed 20 points and corralled seven rebounds.
"I thought offensively we shot it well," South Plains College head coach Steve Green said. "I put all the stats on the board at halftime, and I said 'I'll take 56 points at the half any time this year, but good gosh we have to stop somebody'. We are right now in desperate need of some defensive commitment. It's pride, it's hustle, and it's determination."