College basketball: Wranglers rally after break to get 11th consecutive win

The OC Sports Center hasn’t been a very nice place for visiting Western Junior College Athletic Conference teams.

The Howard College Hawks were the latest to find out, watching an early double-digit lead evaporate as the 13th-ranked Odessa College Wranglers rallied for an 86-72 victory.

“Our crowd was huge for us,: OC coach Dennis Helms said. “It gave us the inspiration that we needed to be able to go. We played to it and made the plays we had to. It’s big win for us.”

Odessa College (22-2 overall, 9-1 WJCAC) improved to 12-0 at home and extended its overall win streak to 11 games. Howard (18-6, 7-3) handed the Wranglers their last loss, a 103-77 blowout on Dec. 3 at Big Spring.

“It was very important for us, for the team, for the coaches,” OC’s Carlos Rodriguez said. “It put us in good position.”

That just happens to be sole possession of first place in the conference as No. 8 Midland College knocked off No. 6 South Plains 75-63, putting OC a game up on the field.

Odessa High graduate Jamel Guyton scored 22 points and Tommie Sykes had 21 points for OC. Devon McLendon scored 17 points off the bench, including a 3-pointer that put the Wranglers in front to stay with 12 minutes remaining, while Delrico Lane had 12 points and nine assists.

OC went 20-of-25 at the line, hitting its last 14 attempts to help extend what was a five-point lead with six minutes remaining. Sykes finished 7-of-8 at the line, hitting six in a row to start the string.

“Howard will foul, but if you don’t play aggressive against them, you won’t get any calls on your behalf,” Helms said. “We played aggressive enough to get them to foul to get to the free throw line. Sykes sees the basket and he’s like a football player seeing the end zone. He’s going to get there and he’s going to make big plays.”

Rodriguez grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, all on the defensive end, as OC employed a smaller lineup most of the way.

“We just played hard and played together,” Rodriguez said. “We played good basketball, passed the ball, everybody touched the ball and we scored.”

Howard had five players finish in double figures, led by Sean Watson with 17 points.

Howard raced out to a 16-5 lead in the first 3½ minutes, but OC responded with the next six points to get back in the game. The Wranglers chipped away from there, taking a 36-35 lead on a Guyton jumper with 2:34 to go in the half.

Howard pulled back ahead, but McLendon converted a three-point play with 1:21 left to tie it at 39 before Devon Baker drove in for a layup at the buzzer to give Howard a two-point halftime lead.

“We’re letting them score too easy,” Helms said of Howard’s opening run. “We were playing like we wanted to win at the beginning of the game instead of playing how we had to to win. The second half, we came out and played the way we had to to win, and we had a home crowd.”

Down four early in the second half, OC outscored Howard 14-8 during a seven-minute stretch. The Hawks still were within three with eight minutes to go, but the Wranglers went on a 13-5 run to take a 76-65 lead when Lane hit two free throws with two minutes left.

No. 13 Odessa College 86, Howard College 72

HOWARD COLLEGE (18-6 overall, 7-3 in WJCAC)

Corey Allmond 4-10 4-5 13, Sean Watson 7-11 3-5 17, Corteze Isaac 4-7 0-0 11, Markeys Deans 4-6 1-1 11, Cheick Kone 0-0 1-2 1, Edward Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Devon Baker 1-3 0-0 2, DeMarcus Richard 5-11 3-4 15, Vladimir Gavranic 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 27-49 12-17 76.

ODESSA COLLEGE (22-2, 9-1)

Jamel Guyton 8-15 2-2 22, Jesse Joseph 2-4 1-2 5, Delrico Lane 3-3 6-8 12, Tommie Sykes 7-11 7-8 21, Carlos Rodriguez 3-7 0-0 7, Devon McLendon 5-8 4-5 17, Damien Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Jerel Blocker 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 29-51 20-25 86.

Halftime — Howard College 41, Odessa College 39. 3-Point goals — HC 9-23 (Allmond 1-5, Watson 0-3, Isaac 3-5, Deans 2-3, Baker 0-2, Richard 2-5), OOC 8-20 (Guyton 4-9, Sykes 0-1, Rodriguez 1-3, McLendon 3-6, Blocker 0-1). Total fouls — HC 21, OC 14. Fouled out — Allmond. Technical fouls - none. Rebounds — HC 27 (Kone 6), OC 24 (Rodriguez 10). Assists — HC 11 (Isaac 3, Richard 3), OC 18 (Lane 9).

WJCAC standings

Team Overall Conf.

Odessa 22-2 9-1

South Plains 20-2 8-2

Midland College 21-3 7-3

Howard 16-5 7-3

Western Texas 14-8 4-5

Frank Phillips 14-10 3-6

New Mexico JC 10-12 3-6

Clarendon 10-13 1-8

New Mexico Military 4-16 0-8

Thursday, Jan. 31

Odessa College 86, New Mexico JC 75

Howard 82, Midland College 76

South Plains 93, Frank Phillips 67

Western Texas 81, Clarendon 75

New Mexico Military, open

Monday, Feb. 4

Odessa College 86, Howard 72

Midland College 75, South Plains 63

Clarendon at Frank Phillips

New Mexico JC at New Mexico Military

Western Texas, open

Thursday, Feb. 7

New Mexico Military at Odessa Colllege

New Mexico JC at Midland College

Howard at Frank Phillips

South Plains at Western Texas

Clarendon, open