Junior college basketball: No. 10 Wranglers roll

The Odessa College Wranglers played zonebusters Thursday, beating the New Mexico Military Institute Broncos 89-62 at the OC Sports Center behind 13 3-point field goals.

Jamel Guyton hit seven 3s in scoring a game-high 23 points, while Devon McLendon hit four in a 20-point performance.

The No. 10 Wranglers (23-2 overall, 10-1 Western Junior College Athletic Conference) hit eight 3-pointers in the first half, overcoming an early 10-point deficit on the way to their 12th consecutive victory.

“Once we started scoring some points, we got some energy,” OC head coach Dennis Helms said. “Once we got some energy, then good things happened. It was 19-9 (NMMI leading) and we led 44-33 at the half, so we outscored them 21 points. That was huge.”

Three other Wranglers reached double figures as Helms emptied the bench for the first time since the resumption of conference play in January. Carlos Rodriguez scored 13 points, Tommie Sykes 11 and Damien Williams 10. Williams, who also had a game-high six rebounds, was 8-for-8 at the line. Delrico Lane had 11 assists for OC.

“The good thing was we got some minutes for Damien,” Helms said. “That was important. We need him to develop into a legitimate guy that people are going to have trouble with.”

Byron Byrd led the Broncos (6-17, 1-9) with 21 points, while Brad Rogers came off the bench with 15 points. The loss was NMMI’s 12th in its last 14 games.

The Broncos took advantage of a slow start by OC, going on an 11-0 run to take it’s 10-point lead with 11 minutes to go in the first half. The Wranglers responded with 12 consecutive points as McLendon and Guyton began hitting from beyond the arc.

Guyton’s 3-pointer with 7:02 remaining gave OC a 21-19 lead and the Wranglers never trailed again.

NMMI did pull even at 21 on a pair of Israel Guardado free throws, but McLendon hit his second 3 on the next trip down to put OC ahead to stay.

In addition to the offense, the Wranglers came up with some key defensive plays. On the possession before Guyton’s go-ahead 3-pointer, NMMI came out of a pileup for a loose ball with a 3-on-1 advantage against Joseph. The 6-foot-7 sophomore blocked Rogers’ shot attempt, leading to a wide-open look for Guyton at the other end.

Once in control, the Wranglers sustained a double-digit lead most of the second half. That was made easier by a stretch in which OC came up with steals on four consecutive NMMI

possessions as the margin grew to 26.

“I thought Jesse and Damien had real good games for us,” Helms said. Delrico was solid. Devon’s feast-or-famine, but when we needed hoops in the first half, he made the tough hopes and Jamel made the open hoops.”

No. 10 Odessa College 89, New Mexico Military Institute 62

NEW MEXICO MILITARY INSTITUTE (6-17, 1-9)

Brandon Rogers 2-4 0-1 4, Kek Biel 1-6 1-2 4, Aaron Patterson 0-3 4-7 4, Joshua Bowen 0-3 0-0 0, Byron Byrd 10-21 0-1 21, Justin Garvin 0-1 0-0 0, Eric Stewart 4-7 0-0 8, Aaron Hunter 0-0 0-0 0, Brad Rogers 5-8 5-5 15, Kaleem McCoy 0-1 0-0 0, Alexander Emelyanov 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 12-18 62.

ODESSA COLLEGE (23-2, 10-1)

Jamel Guyton 8-14 0-0 23, Jesse Joseph 2-3 1-3 5, Delrico Lane 1-4 0-1 3, Tommie Sykes 4-6 3-6 11, Carlos Rodriguez 3-5 6-7 13, Devon McLendon 7-16 2-2 20, Damien Williams 1-2 8-8 10, Dexter McMarion 0-0 0-0 0, Jerel Blocker 1-3 0-0 2, Brian DeLeon 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 27-54 22-29 89.

Halftime - Odessa College 44, New Mexico Military Institute 33. 3-Point goals - NMMI 2-19 (Rogers 0-1, Kiel 1-4, Patterson 0-2, Byrd 1-7, Garvin 0-1, Stewart 0-2, McCoy 0-1, Guardado 0-1), OC 13-30 (Guyton 7-12, Lane 1-3, Sykes 0-1, Rodriguez 1-2, McLendon 4-10, Blocker 0-2). Total fouls - NMMI 23, OC 16. Fouled out - none. Technical fouls - none. Rebounds - NMMI 35 (Kiel 5, Patterson 5, Bowen 5, Byrd 5, Guardado 5), OC 36 (Williams 6). Assists - NMMI 10 (Hunter 3), OC 21 (Lane 11).