The Clarendon College Bulldogs showed why they are another force to be reckoned with in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference as they defeated No. 7-ranked Odessa College in 68-66 win Thursday at the OC Sports Center.
It was the Wranglers’ first loss in conference play as Odessa College fell to 17-3 overall, 5-1 in WJCAC.
Trailing 66-63 with under a minute to go, Clarendon College turned the ball over with 46.4 seconds left.
Willie Lightfoot took advantage and scored the game-tying basket for the Wranglers.
However, The Bulldogs responded with Taylor’s inside jumper to make it a two-point lead with nine seconds left.
The Wranglers were unable to get the game-tying shot and Clarendon held on for the win.
“The tougher team won. It was really that simple,” Odessa College head coach Kris Baumann said. “It was a physical game. The kid made a great shot at the end of the game. At the end of the day, we had no business winning that game. They were tougher than us for 40 minutes … They have a great team, though. Their coach does a great job with that team.”
The Bulldogs moved to 14-5, 4-1.
“It was a really good win for us,” Clarendon College head coach Hunter Jenkins said. “This is a tough place to play. I’m glad we were able to pull it off. It was a gutsy win. But they have to come back and play us again at home and possibly again in the regional tournament.”
Clarendon College was led in scoring by Cortez Johnson’s 18 points (going 6-8 on field goals and 6-of-7 on free throws) while Lenard Taylor had 13 (going 5-of-10 on field goals and 3-of-6 on 3-pointers) and Dior Johnson had 10 (going 3-of-9 on the floor and 4-of-5 on free throws).
The Bulldogs went 26-of-55 from the floor while going 4-of-11 on 3-pointer and 12-of-21 on free throws.
The Wranglers were led by Esyah Pippa-White’s 18 points as he went 4-of-8 on field goals and 1-of-3 on 3-pointers and 9-of-10 on free throws.
Lightfoot went 5-of-19 on field goals and 2-of-10 on 3-pointers while going 1-of-1 on the free throw line.
The Wranglers shot 19-of-62 on field goals and 4-of-17 on 3-pointers and 24-of-29 on free throws.
A four-point play by Lightfoot gave the Wranglers an early 6-4 lead with 17:29 left in the first half.
Both teams traded baskets in the early going of the game as a turnaround jumper by Odessa College’s Anouar Mellouk tied things up at 8-8 with 14:47 on the clock.
Lightfoot’s jumper made it 15-10 with 12:05 remaining.
The Wranglers extended their lead with a 3-pointer by Pippa-White to make it 18-10 with 11:31 on the clock and a timeout was taken by Clarendon College.
However, the Bulldogs used an 8-4 run to pull to a four-point deficit.
Clarendon College continued its momentum in the later part of the half, going back in front and building a 33-26 lead with 3:09 left on the clock.
The Bulldogs’ lead was 41-35 at the half.
The Wranglers came out strong in the second half with a 3-pointer by Dylan Sanders.
The second half remained close as the Wranglers trailed 52-50 at the 10:53 mark.
Defense for both teams would start to take over as the score was only 61-55, Clarendon College, with 6:05 left.
The Bulldogs would find a way to stay in front as an inside jumper by Dior Johnson gave the visitors a 63-57 lead with 4:26 on the clock.
Free throws by Maclin helped cut the Wranglers’ deficit to 63-59 shortly after.
Johnson soon fouled out with 4:03 remaining.
However, chances still came and went for Odessa College.
Lightfoot missed a 3-pointer with 2:52 remaining and Pippa-White was called for a foul while trying to get the offensive rebound, sending Clarendon College’s Marshall Destremau to the line where he went 1-of-2 to make it 64-59.
A 3-pointer by Lightfoot was negated after he was out of bounds and Clarendon College drove down the court where Gloire Goma didn’t disappoint, scoring the layup for a seven-point advantage.
Odessa College would manage to erase its deficit but not enough.
The Wranglers will next face Howard College at 7:30 p.m. Monday in Big Spring.
Clarendon College will next face New Mexico Military Institute Monday at home.
