BASKETBALL: No. 11 Chaps overcome miscues in gutsy win

But the Chaps made the plays when it mattered down the stretch to finally put away the Plainsmen for a hard-fought 66-54 Western Junior College Athletic Conference victory.

"A good team wins," said MC coach Tra Arnold, whose Chaps are now 16-0 overall and 2-0 in the WJCAC. "I was telling the guys that you've got find ways to win games like that during the year. We missed a lot of free throws, certain guys did not play well at all.

"I thought early, we played well. But we've been dealing with a lot of different guys who haven't played because of injuries and all those things and we're still trying to find a way to win this one. It shows that we've got resolve and are buying into the program."

There wasn't much of a flow to the game as 55 combined fouls were call, including three technicals, plus the teams combined for 43 turnovers.

It also didn't help the Chaps that they were just 15 of 28 from the free-throw line.

Keonte Jones, who led MC with 23 points and 12 rebounds, said his team's toughness and its play on the defensive end were keys in the win.

"The defense helped us keep the lead. We weren't really capitalizing on the line," Jones said. "In the first half, a couple of turnovers and charges really kept them in the game. But we won that game and pulled it together. Being tough, keeping our composure, not letting things get to our head and not blaming each other for each other's mistakes helped us. It was just about keeping it together."

The Chaps jumped out to a 13-1 lead and it looked like they were on their way to a decisive victory.

But to their credit, the Plainsmen (9-6, 1-1) were not going to fold easily as they fought back before the Chaps took a 31-21 halftime lead.

The game stayed competitive in the second half and FPC was within 55-50 late in the game. But the Chaps responded with an 11-4 run, culminating with back-to-back 3s from Jamil Bowles and Doug Young (19 points).

"We survived and a month from now, it will just look like another win in the column," Arnold said. "We're going to continue to get better. I'm not worried."

Melquan Collins led FPC with 16 points, Will Hynes had 13 and Chris Mpaka added 12.

The Chaps will look to stay undefeated when they travel to Hobbs, New Mexico, on Thursday to face New Mexico Junior College. Tip-off for that game is at 8:30 p.m. CST.

"All the games are going to be tough in this league," Arnold said. "All the teams are really good, they really are. That's part of going on the road. We're going to have to strap them up and be ready to play on Thursday."