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Western Texas College’s Xavier Ledet looks to pass the basketball against Frank Phillips College during Thursday’s game. Ledet scored 19 points and had 13 rebounds in the 80-74 win.
A season-high 26 assists and clutch free-throw shooting helped the Western Texas College Westerners claim an 80-74 victory over Western Junior College Athletic Conference rival Frank Phillips College Thursday night.
Of WTC’s 31 field goals, 26 came off an assist and the team made 13-of-19 free throws.
“Frank Phillips out-rebounded us (40-37), but we hung in there and played tough,” WTC head coach Larren Silver said. “Twenty-six assists for 31 field goals was very good. The team played for each other and with a lot of energy. We shot free throws well. Most teams would say 82 percent was good, but we were glad to shoot them how we did. It was just our night.”
Xavier Ledet led the Westerners with 19 points while Anton Bilous had 16 points. Kolbe Kinghorn and Traylin Prejean scored 12 and 11 points, respectively. Ledet finished with 13 rebounds and six assists while Shannon James had a game-high eight assists.
“It’s a testament to the players’ character to lose like they did to Midland and Odessa and come back to win this game,” Silver said. “We match up well against (Frank Phillips) and were able to win both games. It’s like Frank Phillips matched up well against Midland and beat them twice.”
Frank Phillips’ Alize Johnson scored a game-high 28 points and had 14 rebounds while Isaiah Palmer had 12 points. Lucious McKay added eight points.
“Johnson hurt us on the boards,” Silver said. “Eight of his 14 rebounds came on the offensive end.”
Frank Phillips led by three points during the opening four minutes. WTC took its first lead on back-to-back field goals by James and Prejean.
Khalil Newton and Jordan Dingle each made 3-pointers to help the Plainsmen take a 19-17 lead. Ledet tied the game at 19-19, but Palmer and Johnson answered to give Frank Phillips a 23-19 lead.
The Plainsmen led until 3:22 left in the first half when Kinghorn’s layup gave WTC a 26-25 lead. After Frank Phillips took a 29-26 lead, WTC scored six straight point to build a 32-29 advantage.
Johnson scored in the final seconds to cut the deficit to 32-31 at halftime.
Midway through the second half, Bilous made three consecutive 3-pointers to give WTC a 57-48 lead.
“Anton’s 3-pointers gave us a lift,” Silver said. “He was due to come out of the game for a break, but I decided to keep him in the game and he ended up scoring 12 points during that time.”
With 1:26 remaining, Frank Phillips pulled to within 76-74 on a 3-pointer by Johnson.
James made four free throws over the final 17 seconds to seal the win for WTC.
“We did a good job late in the game against Frank Phillips’ pressure,” Silver said. “We want to finish the season with two wins.”
The Westerners (15-13, 6-8) will play at Clarendon College Monday and conclude the season against South Plains College at home Thursday.
Frank Phillips College scorers — Alize Johnson 28, Isaiah Palmer 12, Lucious McKay 8, Anthony Stove 7, Roderick Harris 5, Jordan Dingle 5, Kwanique Martin 4, Khalil Newton 3, LeRon Smith 2.
WTC scorers — Xavier Ledet 19, Anton Bilous 16, Kolbe Kinghorn 12, Traylin Prejean 11, Shannon James 8, Christian Hewitt 6, Shane Johnson 5, Jason Nunez 3.
WTC statistics — Jeffrey Uju 9 rebounds, 1 assist; Shannon James 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals; Xavier Ledet 13 rebounds, 6 assists; Shane Johnson 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals; Christian Hewitt 1 rebound, 4 assists, 1 steal; Kolbe Kinghorn 2 rebounds, 2 assists; Traylin Prejean 3 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, 1 steal; Anton Bilous 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal.