SNYDER — Jaden Harris poured in 19 points Thursday as the No. 10-ranked South Plains College men's basketball team outlasted Western Texas 67-56 at Invenergy Court at the WTC Coliseum to improve to 17-3 on the year and 5-1 in conference play.
The Texans will be back on the floor on Saturday when they host Odessa College at 4 p.m. SPC fans are encouraged to pack the Texan Dome, as ESPN will air the men's and women's basketball games live on ESPN+. Admission to the game is free, fans will be treated to free hamburgers and hot dogs, and the first 200 fans will receive a free SPC basketball t-shirt.
"Every game is 40 minutes, and in these types of games you just have to continue to pound it out," South Plains College head coach Hayden Sowers said. "We won this one by 11 points, and the last four home games we've had since Christmas have all been one possession games against teams with winning records. We know these games are going to be tough, and we displayed some toughness coming down here and picking up a win like this."
Harris scored in double figures for the sixth consecutive game, and also added six rebounds and five assists over 38 minutes for South Plains. Muon Reath netted 11 points and five rebounds for SPC, while Malek Abdelgowad finished with 10 points and eight boards.
"We followed the game plan, and we showed some toughness picking up a win like this," Abdelgowad said. "We have guys who want to win, and we are developing some good chemistry and everyone is stepping up right now. We're going to get back to work tomorrow, and we are not taking any days off. We will be ready to go on Saturday."
Elijah Tate chipped in nine points and grabbed six rebounds as the Texans shot a 42.3 percent clip from the field and outrebounded the Westerners 37-29 on the glass. South Plains forced 14 turnovers in the contest resulting in 10 points on the offensive end and poured in 30 points inside the paint.
"We went back to our roots on defense, which is switching everything," Sowers said. "With our length and athleticism, it's hard to score on us, as long as we don't foul. They only shot 12 free throws, which is really good, and I thought we played as well as we could on defense. I'm glad we got this win, but it's time to flip the page to Saturday."