PLANO, Texas — The fifth-ranked South Plains College men's basketball team fell to Collin County Community College 73-63 Friday in their opening contest of the Collin County Thanksgiving Classic at the Cougar Gymnasium.

The Texans (5-3) will look to get back in the win column when they battle Hill College at 3 p.m. on Saturday in Plano. The game will stream live at spctexans.com utilizing the "Watch Texans" tab at the top of the homepage.

Yuot Gai led the Texans on the offensive end with a season-high 14 points including 12 in the first half. Redshirt Freshman Paul Person dropped in 12 points for South Plains while Philmon Gebrewhit and Benjamin Bayela each finished with 11 points for the Texans.

Mason Hix led Collin County (7-1) with 19 points and six boards, shooting 5 of 10 from the floor and 3 of 4 from the 3-point line. Josh Miller netted 11 points and four boards for the Cougars while Orion Virden finished with 10 points and Nighael Ceaser chipped in eight.