BASKETBALL: Chaps suffer ugly home loss to NMJC
The Midland College men’s basketball team has been in a tailspin since coming back from the Christmas break and it needs to find a way to get out of it in a hurry
By Oscar LeRoy
Midland Reporter-Telegram
MIDLAND, TEXAS - The Midland College men's basketball team has been in a tailspin since coming back from the Christmas break and it needs to find a way to get out of it in a hurry.
Against New Mexico Junior College on Thursday night, the shorthanded Chaparrals struggled on both ends of the floor and could not keep up with the Thunderbirds in a 75-44 loss at Chaparral Center.
The 31-point loss was the worst of the year for the Chaps (9-7, 2-1 in Western Junior College Athletic Conference) and it was the fourth defeat in a row. The Chaps went 0-3 at the Fiesta Bowl JC Shootout in Mesa, Arizona, last week.
MC coach Pat Rafferty said four players were out because of either injury or illness and the number of available players was down to eight. But Rafferty refused to make that as an excuse to why his team was so out-played by NMJC (9-7, 1-1).
"I just thought the guys that did play tonight didn't compete and didn't play with the intentions of what we felt we needed to do, at least to put ourselves in a position to win," he said. "I'm not going make an excuse that we didn't have guys. I want the guys that are playing to do their best and play with the effort and intentions that they have control over, and I didn't think we did a good job of that."
The Chaps trailed 29-21 but things only got worse in the second half as the Thunderbirds hit eight of their 11 3-pointers for the game and forced 11 of the 19 MC turnovers.
MC shot just 31.6% for the game and attempted only three free throws for the game.
"Either other guys are sick or they are pacing themselves, but I didn't think we played with much energy and I didn't think we played with much toughness," Rafferty said.
"I was really pleased to finish the (first) semester and then after that, we had a couple of lazy, sluggish practices before we broke. I've got to figure out what buttons to push to get that corrected."
Trent Johnson was the only Chap who scored in double figures with 14 points to go with nine rebounds.
Devin Butts led NMJC with a game-high 21 points, while Jordan Booker and Dario Domingos each scored 13 for the T-Birds.
The Chaps won't have much time to take a breath as they play three conference games within the next week, beginning with a 4 p.m. Saturday contest at Clarendon College. Rafferty knows that his team needs to start turning things around.
"We're not the most talented and we're not the most athletic and we've known that from day one," Rafferty said. "But we've been successful because we've played hard, we've played smart and we've played as a team. We have to out-execute, we have to play harder, we have to play smarter and we have to play fundamentally sound."
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NEW MEXICO JC 75, MIDLAND COLLEGE 44
New Mexico JC (9-7, 1-1 in WJCAC) – Tommy Chatman 2-8 2-2 7, Devin Butts 7-14 2-2 21, Jordan Booker 5-10 1-1 13, Dario Domingos 6-9 1-3 13, Mohamed Mbaye 1-5 2-2 4, Elijah Beard 0-2 0-0 0, Elijah Hoard 2-6 0-0 5, Kaden McKean 0-0 0-0 0, Josephat Bilau 2-3 0-0 4, Kenyoue Ondaan 3-6 0-0 8. Totals 28-63 8-10 75
Midland College (9-7, 2-1) – Christian Villegas 2-9 0-0 5, Jaden Henderson 4-10 0-1 9, Trent Johnson 6-14 0-0 14, Steven Richardson 2-6 1-2 6, Oliver Hayward 2-9 0-0 5, Nate Mulaudzi 0-0 0-0 0, Matteo Tersillo 2-5 0-0 5, Wunya Brown 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 18-57 1-3 44
Halftime – NMJC 29, MC 21. 3-point goals --- NMJC 11-34 (Butts 5-12, Booker 2-5, Ondaan 2-4, Chatman 1-5, Hoard 1-4, Domingos 0-1, Mbaye 0-1, Beard 0-1, Bilau 0-1), MC 7-30 (Johnson 2-7, Villegas 1-7, Henderson 1-3, Richardson 1-2, Hayward 1-5, Tersillo 1-3, Brown 0-3). Total fouls -- NMJC 7, MC 11. Fouled out – None. Rebounds – NMJC 39 (Domingos 10), MC 30 (Villegas 8). Assists – NMJC 15 (Booker 4), MC 10 (Johnson 4). Turnovers – NMJC 11, MC 19.
2021-22 WJCAC Men's Basketball Dtandings
Conference / Overall
W/L W/L
Odessa College 3/0 12/5
Howard College 2/1 10/5
New Mexico Military 2/1 10/6
Midland College 2 /1 9/7
New Mexico JC 1/1 9/7
South Plains College 1/1 7/7
Western Texas 1/2 11/6
Frank Phillips 0/2 9/6
Clarendon College 0/3 5/11
Thursday's scores
New Mexico JC 75, Midland College 44; Odessa College 75, Western Texas College 69; Howard College 55, South Plains College 45; New Mexico Military Institute 81, Clarendon College 58; Frank Philips College was open
Saturday's games
Midland College at Clarendon College; New Mexico Military Institute at Howard College; South Plains College at Frank Phillips College; Western Texas College at New Mexico JC; Odessa College is open