LEVELLAND – The South Plains College Texan men's basketball team went on the road Monday night and got their conference season off to a good start with a 73-48 victory over the New Mexico Military Institute Broncos in Roswell, N.M. Now, both the Texans and Lady Texans face tough home contests Thursday and Saturday when Midland and Howard come to town.
The tough back-to-back home stretch will begin Thursday with the Chaparrals of Midland College. The women's game is scheduled for a 5:45 p.m. tip off, with the men to follow at 7:45 p.m. Mike Mamantov and Ameriprise Financial is Thursday's game sponsor. SPC employees are invited to a fajita dinner from 5-6:30 p.m. Tickets for the dinner may be picked up at the SPC athletic offices.
The general public is also invited with the cost of the meal being $6 for adults and $4 for children.
Both the Midland men's and women's team won their conference openers Monday night at Howard. The Lady Chaps (13-4, 1-0) eked out a 56-54 victory. The Chaps (10-2, 1-0), meanwhile, erased a 15-point first half deficit and eventually won going away, defeating second-ranked Howard 81-69.
The Lady Texans (13-2, 0-0) enjoyed their bye date during Monday's opening round, while the Texans (12-2, 1-0) defeated NMMI.
South Plains will then have a quick turnaround, hosting Howard on Saturday in a game sponsored by McDonald's of Levelland. The Texan cheerleaders will be throwing game t-shirts to the crowd throughout the game and, at halftime, youngsters in attendance will be invited to participated in a 'small fry' free throw contest in which coupons redeemable for a small order of french fries at McDonald's of Levelland will be given to the participants.
After dropping their conference openers to Midland Monday night, the Lady Hawks (11-3, 0-1) take on Clarendon in their second league game Thursday, while the second-ranked Hawks (12-2, 0-1) also look to get back on track against the Bulldogs.
Before the teams took a break for the Christmas holidays, there was hope that Saturday's men's game would feature a No. 1 vs No. 2 showdown as South Plains is currently the top-ranked team in the country with Howard right behind. That is expected to change, however, with both teams losing two games recently and a new poll expected Tuesday afternoon.
Both games on Thursday and Saturday will feature live stats and video. Links can be found at www.spctexans.com. KLVT's Michael Wiiest will be handling the play-by-play that can be heard on KLVT 1230 AM and www.klvtradio.com.
Monday scores from around the WJCAC
Men
South Plains (12-2, 1-0) 73, NMMI (4-10, 0-1) 48
Odessa (11-3, 1-0) 68, Western Texas (10-5, 0-1) 47
Frank Phillips (11-4, 1-0) 102, Clarendon (11-4, 0-1) 100
Midland (10-2, 1-0) 81, Howard (12-2, 0-1) 69
Women
Odessa (11-3, 1-0) 75, Western Texas (7-9, 0-1) 61
Frank Phillips (8-7, 0-1) 102, Clarendon (10-7, 0-1) 95
Midland (13-4, 1-0) 56, Howard (11-3, 0-1) 54
Thursday games
Men
New Mexico (12-2, 0-0) at Western Texas
Odessa at Frank Phillips
Clarendon at Howard
Midland at South Plains
Women
New Mexico (11-2, 0-0) at Western Texas
Odessa at Frank Phillips
Midland at South Plains