T-Birds Upset No. 11 Midland

The NMJC men's basketball team shocked No. 11 Midland College at home 62-56 Thursday night.

The T-Birds faced the Chaps fresh off a heartbreaking three-point loss to No. 3 Odessa. Midland College entered the night 16-0 on the season and 2-0 in conference, however the T-Birds remained unfazed by the Chaps record.

The matchup was competitive from the tip, with the game featuring nine lead changes in the first ten minutes of play. A Midland jumper at the 9:56 mark was the ninth lead change of the first half and gave the Chaps a 13-12 lead over the Thunderbirds.

Midland took advantage of a few T-Bird turnovers to go on a 9-1 run over the span of five minutes to take their largest lead of the game 20-13 with 5:32 to play in the half.

The T-Birds countered with a run of their own, going on a 9-4 stretch to cut the deficit to two points, 24-22, with 1:28 left in the first half. Midland's Keonte Jones was able to break through the defense in the final seconds of the half to flush home a dunk to make the score 26-22 at half. 

Center Jeremiah Cherry helped spark the T-Bird offense in the second half with a dunk that gave NMJC a 29-28 lead with 17:36 to go. This was their first lead since the midway point of the first half. 

The T-Birds went on to fire up the home crowd by hitting back-to back-to-back three-pointers in a two-minute span. The first three was drained by sophomore guard Logan McLaughlin with the other two that followed being credited to sophomore guard Micah Jones. The three-point field goals gave the T-Birds a slim 44-41 lead over the Chaps with 12:03 left in the game.

A Cherry dunk gave the T-Birds a small cushion, 54-49, with 5:23 remaining. Midland's Roddrick Henry finished a layup with 1:24 to go to cut the Thunderbird lead down to one possession, 56-58. 

The T-Birds went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 30 seconds to close out the Chaps 62-56.

Micah Jones had a team-high 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 shooting from three-point land. Guard Josh Nwankwo posted 10 points and seven rebounds in the win.

Forward Antwaun Massey amassed a career-high in points and rebounds with 11 points and eight rebounds in the contest. Guard Logan McLaughlin recorded a solid stat line with eight points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three blocks. 

The T-Birds have battled through injuries most of the season and are finally beginning to get fully healthy, said head coach Luke Mackay.

"It's good to see Josh and Antwaun have good games, Antwaun finished with 11 and 8 and Josh with 10 and 7 and that's the kind of players we knew they were," Mackay said. "They fought through some injuries and with each day they're getting a little closer to themselves." 

Coach Mackay was fired up postgame after securing his first win over a nationally ranked team as a head coach.

"I think we're the best .500 team in the country right now," Mackay said. "We have been so close in a lot of games and it's nice to have one tip our way. It is good to get a little momentum as we start conference." 

The Thunderbirds shot 19-of-58 (32.8%) from the field, 10-for-24 (41.7%) from beyond the arc, and 14-of-17 (82.4% season-high) from the charity stripe.

The Thunderbirds move back to .500 with the win. NMJC is now 8-8 on the season and 1-1 in conference. NMJC will play Western Texas College Monday, Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m. CDT in Snyder, Texas.