NMMI Sports Press

LEVELLAND, Texas — The Bronco basketball team (4-8, 3-6) played the same school — NJCAA No. 1 ranked South Plains College (16-0, 11-0) — twice in five days, and while the opening match at NMMI was a close affair that saw the Institute pull to within two points of the Texans midway through, the first half Saturday's match was totally different, at least early, as the Broncos fell behind big before giving SPC a close second half.

"I was afraid this was going to happen," said coach Sean Schooley. "I think we were just almost thinking that because we played them so tough the last time, that they were going to just kind of play at the same level they did. But they came out and played a lot harder this second time around and we just didn't respond the first 10, 12 minutes of the game."

South Plains led 11-0 before Bronco Luis Riascos Varnon put in the first NMMI points almost five minutes into the half, but SPC continued to dominate both offensively and defensively until Schooley called a time out at 7:56 that saw the Institute trail 31-7.

Did the talk work? Schooley thought maybe.

"Better to be lucky than good," he laughed. "It seemed to work a little bit, but that's the growing process with this group. We're still trying to figure some things out — that we should have been figuring out in October. I'm really proud of them for just not laying down and dying."

The Broncos came out of the time out and outscored the Texans 15-7 to close the halftime gap to 38-23, and continued to play close in the second half.

"You get down 31-7 to the best team in the nation, it's a very difficult task to come back," Schooley said. "We fought back but the best we could do is get back to about 11 or 12. But what I take away from it, the second half, they beat us 49-42, so it was a much better second half but they just had that margin."

NMMI pulled to within 12 early in the second but SPC refused to let the gap narrow any more.

"They hit a couple of big 3s in the stretch. We cut it to 12 then we miss and they make. We miss and they make and it's back up to 20."

The Texans hit several big treys — including for nine of the final 11 points — outshooting the Broncos 10-5 from the outside. SPC also almost doubled NMMI's rebounds‚ 60-33, which Schooley said "made a huge difference."

While South Plans had five players in double figures, Bronco Khaleb Wilson-Rouse led all scorers with 18 points — including two 3s and four free throws — and Furaha Cadeaux de Dieu tallied 15 points with one trey and two free throws. 

But Schooley said statistics aren't everything.

"I was really proud of Jay'veon Coleman," he said. "It may not show a ton in the stats, but he really played hard. Just really did some hard-nosed things that kept the balls alive. Just played really physical and very proud of him."

The coach said the two games were another learning experience as they move into the final games of the WJCAC regular season, and if the teams meet again, things could be different.

"I'm not necessarily wishing we'd play them again, but the next time we'd see them would be in the conference tournament some time, so hopefully that'll be the case."

But to get there, they'll have to play solid on their home court.

"Now we've got to take care of the games we know we can take care of. Monday night (vs. Frank Phillips) is huge. That gets us into the second round of (conference) play, and four out of the five games are at home. We really need to take care of our home business."

That game is set for 6:30 p.m. in the Godfrey Center.