No. 8 Wranglers Withstand Thunderbirds' Challenge To Remain Unbeaten In WJCAC
The Odessa College Wranglers withstood New Mexico Junior College's challenge Thursday, overcoming an eight-point first-half deficit to defeat the Thunderbirds 95-84 in Western Junior College Athletic Conference at the OC Sports Center.
Eighth-ranked Odessa College (18-2 overall, 7-0 WJCAC) maintained a one-game lead over South Plains College for first place in the conference standings, winning its ninth in a row and the 16th in its last 18 games. The Wranglers host the Texans at 7:30 p.m. Monday with first place on the line.
"You've got to win games like that along the way," Odessa College coach Tra Arnold said. "We didn't play well the first half, but that's going to happen. We're just trying to get better and we were fortunate to get the win.
"We're trying to get our team to be better for the next one. It's that one-game-at-a-time motto, practice and get better. Hopefully, we'll be playing our best basketball at the right time."
L.J. Figueroa scored 18 of his game-high 26 points in the second half as the Wranglers took over. J.J. Simpson added 18 points off the bench, scoring 16 in the second half. Braxton Shaw had 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while Jahnathan Maxwell scored 11 points.
Marcell Haskett had 25 points off the bench to lead New Mexico Junior College (13-8, 2-5) as the Thunderbirds lost their fourth in a row. Paul Williams and Franklyn Penn each scored 12 points and Demontrez Hawes and Jacob Bodin had 11 apiece.
Odessa College shot 58.2 percent from the floor (32 of 55) while holding the Thunderbirds to 42.2 percent (27 of 64). The Wranglers also finished with a 39-32 rebounding edge.
"I think we grew a little bit as a team, finding a different way to win," Wranglers assistant coach C.J. Killin said. "Throughout the year, we've seen different mixes and matches of defenses, especially the last month since conference started.
"Just adjusting and finding a way to win the game, it was an all-hands-on-deck effort."
But with nine conference games remaining, including two against South Plains College, Arnold said the Wranglers still have a lot of work ahead of them.
"It's a win, so it's a good thing," he said. "There's a lot we're going to learn from that and the film. A lot of things will get better. We're still a work in progress."
Both teams started slowly, but Odessa College led 9-8 before Haskett's score at the 12:08 mark sparked the Thunderbirds on a 9-3 run. New Mexico Junior College took its biggest lead at 22-14 when Hawes hit a pair of free throws with 7:28 left in the half.
"The biggest thing was we weren't guarding the ball to start the game and giving them straight-line drives to penetrate and kick," Killin said. "When you do that, college basketball players are going to make shots.
"We just had to do a better job of guarding the ball. At half or even midway through the first half, we made some adjustments and cleaned that up a little bit."
The Wranglers responded by outscoring the Thunderbirds 22-13 the rest of the half to lead 36-35 at the break. Odessa College took the lead for good at 44-41 on Braxton's 3-pointer with 16:52 remaining, embarking on a 31-16 run for a 15-point lead with 6:46 to go.
Article by Sam Waller OA
Photo by Jacob Ford