2nd-Half Spurt Not Enough in Big Spring

The Thunderbirds fierce second-half rally fell short as Howard nabbed a 77-64 victory on Monday night. 

NMJC struggled mightily to start the game as they fell behind 17-3 with under 12:30 to go in the half. The deficit only got worse from there. Howard extended their lead to 32 points at the 4:33 mark to set the advantage at 42-10.

The T-Birds inched their way back into the game and ended the half down 47-23.

The Thunderbirds came out in the second half with a fire lit underneath them. They outscored the Hawks 22-7 over the first nine minutes of play to pull within single digits, 45-54.

Armon Jarrard cut the lead to five points, 58-53, with 6:59 to go in the game which moved NMJC into striking distance. The T-Birds up until that point had outscored Howard 30-11 in the half.

The Hawks woke up down the stretch and closed on a 19-11 run to win by 13 points, 77-64.     

Sophomore guard Armon Jarrard went 2-for-4 from the 3-point land to finish with 19 points. Jannoy Thomas recorded 13 points. Francois Nkoy-Eale finished with eight points and five rebounds. 

The T-Birds shot 20-for-52 (38.5%) from the field, 5-of-25 (20.0%) from the 3-point line, and 19-of-34 (55.9%) from the charity stripe. NMJC forced 18 turnovers.

The Thunderbirds are in fifth place in the WJCAC standings behind first place South Plains at 10-2, Midland at 8-3, Frank Phillips at 8-3, and Odessa College at 7-5 . 

The T-Birds drop to 20-6 (6-6) and will play Midland College 18-7 (8-3) in Hobbs, NM Thursday, Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m. MST.