The Temple College men's basketball team completed their overnight stay in the panhandle as they spent their Saturday afternoon taking on the No. 14 South Plains College at the Texan Classic at SPC Coliseum in Levelland.

The Texans took advantage of hot shooting and conversion of TC turnovers late erasing a five-point margin with 8:21 to go, as South Plains defeated Temple, 96-88,

Jaymes Brown-Peterson started the game with a jumper to give the Leopards the initial lead 15 seconds in.

Temple led 7-2 early and had a 26-16 advantage, with Roy Gardner having logged 13 points.

South Plains adjusted to a four-guard look to try to keep the game within reach for the Texans. A late run in the half gave the Texans the halftime lead, 48-47.

Temple shot 56.7% from the field in the first half, 3-of-9 from the three-point arc, and 10-of-13 from the free-throw line in the half.

South Plains shot 53.3% from the field in the opening 20 minutes, 2-of-8 from the beyond the arc, and 14-of-19 from the charity stripe.

Gardner came out in the second half and gave the Leopards the lead back on the opening possession with a bank off the glass.

The game stayed within five points on each side of the ledger, with Temple having grabbed a 64-59 advantage off an 11-1 run with 13:08 remaining. Ovie Agbigbe picked up a couple of three-pointers in the stretch. At that juncture, the Leopards went into the bonus with SPC having drawn their seventh foul.

Gardner's hot shooting maintained TC's five-point advantage, 76-71, with 8:05 to go.

Zion Pipkin helped keep South Plains within arm's distance, as he countered TC baskets with a few of his own.

The Texans regained the lead with a field goal and free-throw by Deion Ware, 80-76, with 5:43 left in regulation.

SPC stretched the lead out to 12 points with 1:04 to go, as the Texans converted a number of Leopards' turnovers.

Temple finished 31-of-59 from the field, 7-of-20 from beyond the arc, and 19-of-24 from the free-throw line.

Garner led the Leopards with 27 points, on 8-of-16 shooting, which included 3-of-7 behind the arc. Agbigbe had 14 points off the bench, and Josh Telfort added 13. Jonty Kells added 10 assists.

The Texans were 30-of-59 from the floor, which included 3-of-12 from behind the three-point stripe, and 33-of-41 from the free-throw line.

Pipkin led all scorers with 32 points for SPC., which included 10-of-10 from the charity stripe. Ware added 16 points, and Jaylen Colon scored 13 points off the bench.

The game against SPC was the fourth consecutive game against a ranked opponent or one that is receiving D-I Top 25 or D-III Top 15 poll votes. North Lake represented two of the games (Nov. 15 and Nov. 21) and Nov. 19's win at Dallas College – Mountain View

The Leopards travel to Richardson on Tuesday to take on Dallas College – Eastfield at 6 pm. The Harvester Bees are receiving Top 15 votes in NJCAA Division III's latest poll, making it the fifth consecutive game of an opponent receiving poll votes.