It was more work than the Odessa College men’s basketball team was expecting.
Dontrell Hewlett made a pair of free throws with 7.1 seconds remaining to play to lift the fifth-ranked Wranglers to a 73-72 victory against Cochise College on Saturday at the OC Sports Center.
Hewlett led Odessa College with 15 points on the second day of the Wrangler Shootout.
Marcus Banks added 12 points and Khalil Haywood chipped in 10 to the victory.
“I thought Dontrell wanted the ball at the end and made a strong move to the basket and got the foul,” Odessa College coach Kris Baumann said. “He played great tonight.
“But we are still looking for a leader out there. We started slow and then had trouble responding to a run in the second half.”
Tyreese Watson led Cochise College with a game-high 24 points, with Oscar Cluff adding 18.
The Wranglers were cold from the floor to open the game, allowing the 23rd-ranked Apaches to gain confidence, along with a 10-point lead (11-1) with less than four minutes gone in the game.
Baumann called a timeout, got his players’ attention and momentum shifted, immediately.
With 14:03 remaining to play, Dian Wright-Forde connected on a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game, 11-11.
Odessa College was just getting started on a 29-10 run that would see it lead (30-21) with 7:55 remaining in the first half, eventually holding a 38-28 lead at halftime.
Cochise, however, wasn’t going to let the Wranglers get any farther away.
Opening the second half on a 13-6 run the Apaches pulled within three (44-41) with 15:50 to play in the game.
Trading baskets for most of the second half, Cochise regained the lead (70-68) on a Watson jumper from the top of the key.
Cluff extended it to four points with a dunk and the Apaches were poised to pull off the upset.
Hewlett then hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to get Odessa College within one (72-71) before getting to the free throw line on the next possession after a Cochise College miss.
>> MIDLAND COLLEGE 84, BLINN COLLEGE 83: Doug Young made three free throws with .4 seconds remaining to lift the Chaparrals past the Buccaneers in the first game of the day at the OC Sports Center.
Young, who played at Odessa College two seasons ago, had a game-high 27 points to lead Midland College, with Keonte Jones finishing with 24, Brison Waller 12 and Trent Johnson 10, along with a game-high 10 rebounds, in the victory.
Elijah Elliott scored 25 points to lead Blinn College.
Marco Foster added 16, Bakari LaStrap 15 and Jaja Sanni 11 in the loss.
>> UTAH STATE EASTERN 57, NEW MEXICO JC 49: The Eagles overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half to earn the victory against the T-Birds at the OC Sports Center.
Jael Vaughn had a game-high 14 pionts to lead Utah State Eastern, with Gbenga Olubi adding 13 to the victory.
Logan McLaughlin scored 12 points to lead New Mexico JC.
The Eagles won this game from the free-throw line, converting 15-of-22 attempts, while the T-Birds were just 3 of 10.
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No. 5 Odessa College 73, No. 23 Cochise College 72
Wrangler Shootout
Saturday, OC Sports Center
COCHISE COLLEGE
Jordan Hernandez 1-6 2-2 5, Tyreese Watson 10-15 3-5 24, Jalen Barbee 1-2 1-2 3, Riley Parker 4-8 0-0 9, Oscar Cluff 7-8 4-6 18, Diego Sharp 1-2 0-0 2, Tracy Godfrey 3-3 3-4 9, Mark Clegg 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-46 13-19 72.
ODESSA COLLEGE
Anthony Marshall 3-9 3-3 9, Khalil Haywood 3-7 4-4 10, Dontrell Hewlett 5-14 2-3 15, Kiree Huie 3-3 1-1 7, Marcus Banks 4-9 0-0 12, Dian Wright-Forde 1-4 3-4 6, Brandon Maclin 0-0 0-0 0, Darrell Armstrong Jr. 1-1 0-0 2, Colin Schaefer 1-4 0-0 2, Aman Maesho 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Green 0-1 0-2 0, Chandler Cuthrell 2-2 1-1 7, Jordan Ray 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 24-56 15-20 73.
Halftime — Odessa College 38, Cochise College 28. 3-Point goals — Cochise College 3-11 (Hernandez 1-3, Watson 1-3, arbee 0-1, Parker 1-3, Sharp 1-3), Odessa College 10-28 (Marshall 0-5, Haywood 0-2, Hewlett 3-5, Banks 4-9, Wright-Frode 1-3, Armstrong Jr. 0-2, Cuthrell 2-2). Total fouls — Cochise College 16, Odessa C ollege 22. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None. Rebounds — Cochise College 27 (Cluff 9), Odessa College 24 (Hewlett 5). Assists — Cochise College 12 (Parker 3, Cluff 3), Odessa College 11 (Marshall 3, Wright-Forde 3).
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Utah State Eastern 57, New Mexico JC 49
Wrangler Shootout
Saturday, OC Sports Center
NEW MEXICO JUNIOR COLLEGE
Logan McLaughlin 4-14 0-0 12, Micah Jones 3-13 0-0 8, Cameron Kimble 4-8 0-2 8, Magok Manyang 0-2 1-4 1, Jeremiah Cherry 3-4 0-0 6, Mo Kora 0-0 0-0 0, Ikenna Ude-Smith 2-3 0-0 4, Cameron Harris 0-3 0-0 0, Lewis Rowe 4-7 0-2 8, Jayden Webley 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 20-55 3-10 49.
UTAH STATE EASTERN
Gbenga Olubi 5-11 1-1 13, Noah McCord 0-4 6-6 6, Jael Vaughn 5-13 2-6 14, Kevin Bethel 2-5 2-3 6, Dyson Lighthall 0-3 0-0 0, Malek Malual 1-3 2-4 4, Sheldon Romriell 2-2 0-0 6, Mark Huber 1-4 2-2 5, Jack Jamele 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 17-46 15-22 57.
Halftime — New Mexico JC 27, Utah State Eastern 21. 3-Point goals — New Mexico JC 6-26 (McLaughlin 4-13, Jones 2-9, Kimble 0-1, Manyang 0-1, Harris 0-1, Rowe 0-1), Utah State Eastern 8-20 (Olubo 2-4, Vaughn 2-6, Lighthall 0-1, Malual 0-2, Romriell 2-2, Huber 1-4, Jamele 1-1). Total fouls — New Mexico JC 21, Utah State Eastern 11. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — New Mexico JC. Rebounds — New Mexico JC 36 (McLaughlin 5, Ude-Smith 5), Utah State Eastern 29 (McCord 14). Assists — New Mexico JC 10 (Jones 3), Utah State Eastern 10 (Bethel 5).
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No. 25 Midland College 84, Blinn College 83
Wrangler Shootout
Saturday, OC Sports Center
BLINN COLLEGE
Bakari LaStrap 6-11 2-3 15, Elijah Elliott 6-12 9-12 25, Damian Watson 2-4 0-2 4, Alex Tsynkevich 1-2 4-4 6, Marco Foster 5-11 4-4 16, Maurice Pinnock 0-0 0-0 0, Masiah Gilyard 0-0 0-0 0, Jamine Charles 2-5 0-0 4, Jaja Sanni 3-6 5-6 11, Azari Woods 0-0 0-0 0, Kelvin Tamakloe 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 26-53 24-31 83.
MIDLAND COLLEGE
Christian Villegas 1-2 0-0 2, Keonte Jones 8-15 8-11 24, Doug Young 8-14 8-8 27, Trent Johnson 3-6 4-5 10, brison Waller 5-8 2-2 12, Jaden Henderson 2-2 1-2 6, Xavier White 1-5 0-0 3, Brett Leach 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-53 23-28 84.
Halftime — Midland College 43, Blinn College 42. 3-Point goals — Blinn College 7-18 (LaStap 1-4, Elliott 4-6, Watson 0-1, Foster 2-7), Midland College 5-11 (Jones 0-1, Young 3-5, Henderson 1-1, White 1-3, Leach 0-1). Total fouls — Blinn College 20, Midland College 21. Fouled out — Blinn College (Watson), Midland College Jones). Technical fouls — None. Rebounds — Blinn College 25 (Watson 8), Midland College 26 (Johnson 10). Assists — Blinn College 8 (LaStrap 2, Elliott 2, Foster 2), Midland College 10 (Young 4).
