Jan. 20—The Odessa College men’s basketball team escaped with a 55-54 win against Western Texas College Monday at the OC Sports Center.
With the victory, the Wranglers have now won three consecutive games, improving to 14-5 overall, 3-2 in Western Junior College Athletic Conference play.
With under a minute to go, Odessa College sat at a one-point deficit.
A steal by Jordan Trahan led to a dunk and the Wranglers suddenly took a 55-54 lead with 11 seconds to go.
Western Texas College’s Yuval Shopen threw up a last-second shot as the clock expired but it was no good and the Wranglers survived.
“I was happy that we won,” Odessa College head coach Kris Baumann said. “It wasn’t very pretty. With this team, we were playing really well going into this game. We played well in the first half. The second half, turnovers killed us. But we won the game and that’s all that matters. We’re on a three-game winning streak. We protected our home floor. Now, we get to go to Clarendon College on Thursday. I was happy for the guys. I thought Jordan Trahan made a tremendous play. I thought he got a great steal and a big play at the basket. I was happy for him. He was able to make that play. We got two big stops at the end which is huge in college basketball. But we need to get better. We have a lot of talented players and we need to figure out how to improve in this league.”
Western Texas College, which was coming off an overtime loss to No. 15 South Plains College last week, fell to 10-8, 1-3.
“Anytime you play a Kris Baumann team, they’re going to be tough,” Western Texas College head coach Matt Hardy said. “We lost this game in the first half. 16 turnovers in the first half makes it hard to win and hard to crawl out of the hole. I was proud of my guys for responding in the second half.”
Odessa College was led in scoring by JD Bradford’s 12 points while Tyler Williams had eight and Samarion Brown had seven points.
As a team, the Wranglers shot 19-of-51 on field goals, 2-of-17 on 3-pointers and 15-of-22 on free throws.
Western Texas College was led in scoring by Justin McCall’s 21 points while Ronald Durham had 16 and Quentin Henry had 12.
The Westerners went 19-of-47 on field goals, 9-of-24 on 3-pointers and 7-of-11 on free throws.
A 3-pointer by Jaden Reynolds gave the Wranglers an early 7-2 lead with 17:16 left in the first half.
It was 9-2 after a layup by Williams.
Western Texas College responded with a 5-0 run.
Odessa College built a 20-14 lead with 7:39 left.
A jumper by Naciear Kirksey gave the Wranglers an eight-point lead with 7:03 on the clock.
Odessa College’s lead was 28-21 at the half.
The Westerners began the second half on a promising note, going on a 12-4 run to take a 33-32 lead at the 14:51 mark.
Odessa College responded with a 5-1 run to take a four-point lead.
Both teams went back-and-forth as the game remained close.
Free throws by Bradford gave the Wranglers a 43-42 lead with 9:02 left.
A transition basket by Durham made it 48-46 for the visitors with 6:42 remaining.
Western Texas College added to its lead with a 3-pointer by Justin McCall with 6:02 left.
Things didn’t get easier for the Wranglers as McCall scored another 3-pointer, giving WTC a 54-46 lead with 4:42 on the clock.
OC quickly responded with jump shots by Reynolds and Williams.
A free throw by Jordan Trahan and a jumper by Williams made it a one-point game with 2:08 left.
With the clock winding down, Odessa College remained at a one-point deficit with under a minute to go.
Odessa College would go on to grab the late victory.
The Wranglers will next face Clarendon College at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Clarendon.
Western Texas College will next face Howard College at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Snyder.
