T-Birds cap regular season with win at Clarendon

CLARENDON, Texas — The New Mexico Junior College men's basketball team found itself down 13-6 early in the first half against Clarendon College with the Thunderbirds showing little life on offense.

But a trio of 3-pointers by Malique Trent sparked a massive 38-9 run to end the half for the T-Birds as they capped their regular season with an 86-58 victory Thursday at Clarendon Gym.

The victory secures the T-Birds (22-8, 11-5) the No. 3 spot out of the Western Junior College Athletic Conference as the they'll face McLennan at the Region V Tournament 2 p.m. (CST) Thursday on the campus of Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas.

"It's really good to get a win like this before heading to regionals," NMJC coach James Miller said. "It shows the guys that if we play like this – the way we are capable of – we can keep winning games."

Trent paced NMJC on Thursday with 20 points while Cullen Russo had 12 and Kimani Jackson, Jeremy Postell and Tyler Blount each had seven. Rene Esparza had three points, seven assists and four steals.

Fourteen of the 15 T-Birds that dressed for the game scored.

Dashun Dixon led Clarendon (5-24, 2-14) with 14 points.

NMJC's defense forced 28 Clarendon turnovers and the T-Birds shot 47.1 percent from the field, including going 9-for-23 (39.1 percent) from 3-point range.

Joining NMJC at the regional tournament from the WJCAC is South Plains, Howard College and New Mexico Military Institute while the NTJCAC representatives along with McLennan are Hill, Temple and Weatherford.