The No. 9-ranked Odessa College men’s basketball team began the Wrangler Club Shootout with a 94-74 victory against Southwestern Christian College Thursday at the OC Sports Center.
Playing the first game in three consecutive days, the Wranglers improved to 7-1.
The Wranglers will get tougher competition in the coming days when they face nationally-ranked Snow College at 7 p.m. Friday and Blinn College at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Odessa College’s only loss of the season so far was a 73-63 defeat against McLennan Community College back on Nov. 5.
The Wranglers were led in scoring by Trey Maxwell’s 23 points while JD Bradford had 12 and Ahmere Carson had 10.
The Wranglers went 31-of-58 on field goals and 9-of-26 on 3-pointers. Odessa College also went 23-of-32 on free throws.
Southwestern Christian College was led in scoring by Dylan Richardson’s 13 points while Kainan Thomas and Landon Anderson each had 12.
The Rams went 25-of-49 on field goals and 6-of-17 on 3-pointers. They finished 18-of-24 on free throws.
“I thought we had two freshmen who played really well,” Odessa College head coach Kris Baumann said. “I thought Trey Maxwell and Carson both played really well. They made shots. I was happy with their play and I thought they rebounded the ball really well. I thought Samarion Bond did a good job of getting us off to a great start. But we have some older guys that need to play better.”
It was the Wranglers home opener after being on the road for nearly a month.
“It was amazing,” Baumann said of being at home. “The kids loved it. I thought our student section was great. It’s great to play home games. We also beat a good team. They played Hutchinson Community College to a close game. They’ve gone up against some good teams. Their coach is doing a good job.”
The Wranglers began the game on a 7-3 run.
It was soon 20-8 with 13:08 left in the first half as the hosts remained in control.
A 3-pointer by Trey Maxwell gave the Wranglers a 26-14 lead with 8:25 left.
Free throws by Anthony Simo made it 28-14 soon after.
Southwestern Christian College came out of a timeout with a jump shot by Kainan Thomas with 7:13 left.
The Wranglers responded with a 4-0 run which included a transition basket by Carson to make it 35-16.
The Rams responded with an 8-2 run.
A turnaround jumper by Donny Thomas brought the Rams to a 39-26 deficit with under a minute to go.
He hit an inside jumper to make it an 11-point game soon after as Odessa College’s scoring woes continued.
However, Maxwell hit a 2-pointer before Thomas responded with a 3-pointer of his own and the Wranglers’ lead was 41-31 at the break.
Odessa College soon led 65-50 with 11:47 left to play in the game.
Free throws by JD Bradford gave the Wranglers a 68-50 lead with 10:10 remaining.
The Rams responded with a 5-2 run.
Consecutive free throws by Bradford gave the Wranglers a 72-55 lead with 8:35 left.
A dunk by Bradford made it 78-57 with 7:16 on the clock.
A 3-pointer by Maxwell made it 83-60 soon after.
The Wranglers will be back on the court for a 7 p.m. game Friday against No. 5 Snow College (7-1) at the OC Sports Center.
Snow College was delivered its first loss of the season with a 77-70 defeat against Midland College Thursday.
“We have our hands full on Friday,” Baumann said. “Midland College beat them tonight and Snow’s not looking to come away with two losses in this tournament. It’s going to be a huge game for us. Snow is nationally-ranked and any time you play a team like that, it’s going to be tough.”
Southwestern Christian College will face New Mexico Military Institute at 3 p.m. Friday.
Related
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
