LEVELLAND — The sixth-ranked South Plains College men's basketball team fell to No. 13 Panola College 85-84 in overtime Friday in their home opener at the Texan Dome.
South Plains moves to 4-1 on the season and will be back on the court on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Coastal Bend College at the Texan Dome. The game will stream live at spctexans.com and can be heard on KLVT Radio Levelland with Michael Wiiest calling the courtside action.
Leading 75-72 following a free throw from the Texans' Paul Person with 3.5 seconds to go, the Ponies (5-0) swung the ball to Jermaine Drewey who launched a prayer from 45 feet that found the bottom of the next as time expired to send the game into overtime deadlocked at 75.
Panola would jump out to an 81-77 lead to begin the extra time, which was eventually cut to 81-80 on a free throw from the Texans' Junior Farquhar with under six seconds remaining. South Plains would foul Stanton Rose with 2.4 seconds left, who would miss both free throws to give the Texans a final shot. Farquhar got one last heave off from midcourt at the buzzer, but couldn't connect as the Ponies escaped with the win.
Jarrel Rosser led the Texans on the offensive end, netting 19 points and nine rebounds, shooting 6 of 14 from the floor and 7 of 9 from the free throw line. Rivaldo Soares provided 17 points and seven boards off the bench, connecting on 6 of 10 shots from the field and was 3 of 4 from the 3-point line.
South Plains' Yuot Gai netted 12 points and four rebounds, dropping in 5 of 7 shots while Jevonnie Scott chipped in 11 points and grabbed four rebounds over 16 minutes. The Texans shot 40.3 percent from the floor and were 6 of 19 from the 3-point line while shooting just 58.9 percent from the charity stripe.
The Ponies' Drewey led all scorers with 21 points and five rebounds, dropping in 4 of 8 shots from the field and was 9-for-10 from the free throw line over 35 minutes. Rose connected on six 3s for Panola, netting 19 points and snagged four steals in 23 minutes of play. Panola shot a 41.5 percent clip from the floor including a 61.9 percent mark from behind the arc.