The Temple College men's basketball team will travel to Odessa to take on the No. 14 South Plains College Plainsmen in the first round of the single game elimination NJCAA Region V Tournament.
Thursday afternoon's tip-off from the Odessa College Sports Center is 3 pm.
The game will be broadcast on TSBN Sports. (http://www.tsbnsports.com)
Temple and South Plains faced each other in Levelland on Nov. 22, 2025, with the Plainsmen winning 96-88.
The Leopards lead 76-71 with 8:21 to play when Odessa scored five straight points to tie the game with 6:26 to go. The Plainsmen closed the game on a 20-12 pace to win by eight points.
SPC converted an impressive 33-of-41 (80.5%) from the free-throw line.
Zion Pipkin led all scorers with 32 points, which included 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. Deion Ware added 16 and Jaylen Colon scored 13 points off the bench.
Temple made 19-of-24 shots from the charity stripe and hit seven three-pointers.
Roy Gardner scored 27 points to lead Temple. Ovie Agbigbe added 14 points off the bench, and Josh Telfort chipped in 13 points.
The Leopards (18-12 overall, 9-5 North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference third-seed) finished a game behind second-seeded Collin County Community College and a game in front of fourth-seeded Ranger College. McLennan Community College finished as the regular season NTJCAC champion and is the top seed for the North in the tournament.
Temple averages 86.5 points per game and yields 83.5 points. The Leopards shoot 45.4% from the floor, 31.2% from beyond the three-point arc, and convert 66% of their free-throws. TC has averaged 40.3 rebounds, 17.6 assists, 10.6 steals, and 3.9 blocks per game.
Telfort (13.6 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game, 1.6 assists per game, 1.2 steals per game), Gardner (12.2 ppg., 5.1 rpg., 2.0 apg., 1.5 spg., 34% three-pointers), Jaymes Brown-Peterson (11.8 ppg., 4.0 rpg., 2.3 apg., 2.1 spg.), Harry Bates (11.2 ppg., 7.4 rpg., 1.7 apg.), and Jason Ward (5.9 ppg., 4.4 rpg., 4.3 apg.) have been the primary starters for the Leopards this season. Agbigbe (8.8 ppg., 3.2 rpg., 37.5% three-pointers), Byron Piper (6.5 ppg, 30.9% three-pointers), Tayshaun Goston (6.1 ppg, 31.1% three-pointers), Joel Brown (5.7 ppg., 3.4 rpg38.1% three-pointers), and Jonty Kells (3.9 ppg.) are the reserves that are the key players for Temple.
South Plains (23-6 overall, 12-4 Western Junior College Athletic Conference second-seed) won the tiebreaker over New Mexico Junior College (25-5 overall, 12-4 WJCAC third-seed), and the pair finished game above Midland College (25-5 overall, 11-5 WJCAC fourth-seed). Howard College (26-4 overall, 13-3 WJCAC) is the top seed in the West.
The Plainsmen average 84.7 points per game and allot 76.3 per contest. SPC shoots 49.3% from the field, 39.6% from three-point territory, and 74% successful at the free-throw line. South Plains has averaged 31.7 rebounds, 14 assists, 5.5 steals, and 4.3 blocks per game.
Pipkin (13.5 points per game, 85.3% FT, 4.2 assists, 2.8 rebounds), Antallah Sandlin'el (12.9 ppg., 5.0 rpg.), Micah Bell (11.3 ppg., 5.0 rpg.), Yohandry Ortiz (11.3 ppg.), Keith Richard (10.4 ppg., 2.9 rpg.), Deion Ware (10 ppg.), and Jaylen Colon (7.0 ppg, 88.6% FT) are the primart contributors for the Plainsmen. Aliou Maiga (4.9 rpg., 4.7 ppg.) and Alexandre K'Medehouto (4.8 rpg., 4.0 ppg.) big men in the paint.
The game proceeding the TC-SPC game is No. 18 McLennan Community College vs. No. 9 Midland College at 1 pm. The games following are No. 15 New Mexico Junior College vs. Collin County Community College at 5 pm and No. 4 Howard College taking on Ranger College at 7 pm.
Winner of the game will take on the winner of Midland College and McLennan College on Friday at 5 pm.