STEPHENVILLE – For the first time since the 2007 season, the Tarleton Texans held back-to-back opponents to below 40 points after downing Paul Quinn on Monday, 77-31. 

The Texans improved to 11-2 on the season with the victory.

Effran Bryant got the game going with a three just 12 seconds into the contest after he was fed by Corin Henry.  Jeremiah Wilson added two points to the lead with free throws at 19:11 before a free throw by Devon Hills put Tarleton ahead 5-0 with 18:49 remaining in the first period. 

The two teams traded buckets before Jeremy Gilbert had a free shot prior to Henry hitting two of his own from the charity stripe.  With 12:59 on the clock, Bryant put the Texans ahead by 10 (14-4).  After a Hills layup, Gilbert hit a three, Wale Ogunoye hit a layup and Smith had a fastbreak slam dunk.  Tarleton led 23-4 with 7:40 left in the opening period.

The Tigers cut the lead to 18 on two different occasions before Jason Burke-Kavros hit a jumper to make it 25-9.  Oguonoye and Atsu Atakpn traded buckets before Larry Pettite had a putback and Gilbert hit a jumper from the right corner with three ticks left in the half to give Tarleton a 31-11 advantage.

The Tigers shot just .167 from the field in the first half while Tarleton hit just 28.9 percent of its shots from the floor. 

Lamar Nichols and Bryant traded threes to open the second half before Henry got a steal and a layup on the ensuing drive.  The junior then hit a three to put the Texans ahead 39-14 with 18:27 on the clock.  The two teams again traded buckets before a three by Gilbert and another by Wilson put Tarleton up by 33 with 15:02 on the clock.  Hills had a fastbreak dunk before Warren Webb had a free throw to make it 50-16 Tarleton.

A Darrion Washington had a three to make it 55-20 before Webb had two free throws and Chris Harrell had a three to put the lead at 40 (60-20) with 10:27 remaining in the game.  Mihail Dimirov then hit back-to-back threes for the Tigers, but Hills had a three on the other end followed by a putback by Wilson and a layup on a fastbreak by Henry.

Tarleton stretched the lead to 43 points with 5:55 on the clock when the Tigers scored five straight to make it 69-31 with just over three minutes on the clock. Smith hit a layup as did Oguonye before Larry Pettite had two free throws.  Jeremy Myres gave the game its final tally with a steal and layup to give Tarleton a 77-31 victory.

Tarleton was led by Henry with 11 points and Hills with 10.  Wilson and Smith had 10 rebounds apiece to lead the squad. 

The Texans shot .400 from the field (28-70), .313 from the three-point arc (10-32) and .611 from the charity stripe (11-18).

Paul Quinn was led by Burke-Kavros with 12 points and Atakpn with nine rebounds.

The Tigers averaged .255 from the field (13-51), .174 from the arc (4-23) and .167 from the line (1-6). 

Tarleton outscored the foes 32-8 in the paint, 26-9 off turnovers, 13-0 in second chance points, 21-8 in fastbreak points and 32-8 off the bench. 

The Texans will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 9 at Texas A&M-Commerce.  Tip-off in Commerce is set for 4 p.m.