South Plains meets No. 20 McLennan at 1 p.m. Friday in Region V semifinal round in Wolfforth

South Plains meets No. 20 McLennan at 1 p.m. Friday in Region V semifinal round in Wolfforth

LEVELLAND — Following an 89-75 thumping of Ranger College in the opening round of the 2018 Region V Men's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday, the South Plains College men's basketball team will take on No. 20 McLennan College at 1 p.m. on Friday at the Tiger Pit in Wolfforth on the campus of Frenship High School.

South Plains comes into Friday's semifinal matchup with a 21-8 record and winners of six of their last seven. Averaging 79.4 points on the year, South Plains shot 49.1 percent from the field against Ranger and knocked down 11 3s in the contest.

Sophomore big man Isaiah Maurice led South Plains with 20 points and seven boards, bucketing 6 of his 7 attempts from the floor was 7-for-9 from the charity stripe. Jordan Brangers scored 18 points including four 3s to go along with five rebounds and a pair of assists in 40 minutes of action. South Plains is 13-4 away from the Texan Dome this season and will look to slow down a McLennan offense who averages 89 points per game.

Led by freshman Garrett Shaw, the Highlanders (27-4) topped Clarendon 89-68 Wednesday in their opening round contest. Shaw led all scorers with 30 points, knocking down 8 of his 14 attempts from the floor and was 6-for-6 from the 3-point line. Xavier Armstead tallied 14 points for McLennan and Daniel Pinho Severo tallied 13 as the Highlanders shot 52.1 percent from the field and 57 percent from behind the arc.

Should the Texans come out victorious, they will advance to the Region V championship game on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Tiger Pit against either Collin County or Odessa who play at 3 p.m. on Friday. Friday's contest will be streaming live at spctexans.com and can also be heard on KLVT Radio Levelland AM1230.