LEWISVILLE — The second-ranked South Plains College men's basketball team had four players score in double figures as they pummeled Jacksonville College 87-65 Saturday night at the Farmer Activity Center to improve to 1-0 on the year.
The Texans will return to the hardwood on Sunday evening when they square off with Panola College at 6 p.m. The game will be streaming live at spctexans.com.
Sophomore Gaige Prim, a 6-foot-9 transfer from West Texas A&M did not disappoint in his debut for the Texans as he led all scorers with 28 points and was a perfect 10 of 10 from the charity stripe. Sophomores Trey Wade and Jonah Antonio each recorded 13 points in their first outing for South Plains, while Koray Gilbert netted 11 and McNeese State commit Chris Orlina bucketed 10.
"Our commitment on the defensive end really played a big part in helping us pick up a win tonight," Orlina said. "Coach Green really put us in the best position possible to find open shots, and our focus defensively seemed to help us on the offensive end. Gaige plays a big role for us on both ends and helped clean up some things down low and create second chances for us on offense. Picking up a win feels great but we have a tough one against Panola tomorrow."
South Plains jumped out to a 43-28 advantage at the midway point as Prim and Orlina combined for 18 points in the front half. Orlina and Wade each hit twice from the outside in the first 20 minutes as seven Texans found the bottom of the net in the opening half.
South Plains continued to find success with the rock in the back half as Prim bucketed 18 and Gilbert chipped in 10 to lead the Texans down the stretch. Antonio connected from the outside twice in the final 20 minutes as the Texans continued to hit on the offensive end.
Akili Vining led the Jackrabbits (0-2) with 13 points, all of which came in the first half as the Texans held him scoreless in the back half. Joel Polius and Jermaine Drewey each finished with seven points for Jacksonville while Stefan Bozickovic had six and Kelyn Pennie netted five.