Midland College Chaparrals Defeat South Plains College Texans in Region 5 Semis, To Take On Howard College Hawks in Championship Game

Midland College Basketball

NJCAA Region 5 Semifinals/Championship Game Information

Friday, March 13, 2026

Odessa, TX

The Midland College Chaparrals exacted a measure of revenge against the South Plains College Texans when the two teams matched-up in the Region 5 Tournament semis.  Midland College, 27-5 on the season and 2-0 in the post-season, edged the Texans by a score of 74-70.  The Texans defeated Midland College by an identical score of 74-70 on February 9th in Levelland.  

With the win Midland College advances to the NJCAA Region 5 Championship game versus the Howard College Hawks.  Howard College defeated New Mexico Junior College in overtime by a score of 73-68 in the second Region 5 semifinal game.  The Howard College Hawks are currently 28-4 this season, including 2-0 in the Region 5 Tournament.    

In the MC-SPC semifinal game Chaps' guard Darius Carr led all scorers with 19 points.  Midland College also received scoring help by Nayte Spargo who scored 12 points and by Solomon Ominu who chipped in with 10 points.  Midland College freshman point guard Cayden Reed, suprisingly led both teams with eight rebounds.  

The Region 5 Championship game will be a rematch of the final regular season game, versus Howard College.  Howard College won both regular season games, 91-83 on February 2nd and 101-86 on March 2nd in Big Spring.  The March 2nd game took nearly three hours to complete after 60 foul calls resulted in 94 combined free throws by the teams.    

The Midland College versus Howard College game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. (CDT) tip-off at the Odessa College Sports Center. 

Watch the Region 5 Men's Championship Game Live at:  https://tsbnsports.com/midland-vs-howard/ 

Howard College finished the regular season as the #4 ranked team in NJCAA Division I basketball.  Midland College concluded the 2026 season as the #9 ranked team in NJCAA Division I basketball.  Regardless to the final outcome of the Saturday's game, its highly likely one of the teams will receive one of the eight available at-large selections to the 2026 NJCAA Men's Division I National Tournament in Hutchinson, KS March 21-28, 2026. 

National tournament seedings will be announced Monday, March 16 at 6 PM ET via the NJCAA Network.

For information on the 2026 NJCAA Men's Division I National Tournament:  https://njcaachampionship.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/div1/index   

Go Chaps!