STEPHENVILLE ? The No. 12 Tarleton Texans held Abilene Christian to their lowest first-half total of the season and outlasted the Wildcats in the second half to win, 66-63.
Tarleton led at the break 37-24 and even though the Texans were outscored 39-29 in the second period, Tarleton improved to 21-3 over all and 8-1 in the Lone Star Conference South Division to set up a big showdown in Canyon on Saturday.
The Wildcats fell to 17-7 and 4-5 in the division with the loss, as ACU hit just 25 percent from the three-point arc (6-24). The win was Tarleton's 15th in a row over ACU.
The Texans jumped out early with a conventional three-point play by Mike Daniels just 22 seconds into the game, but on the return trip down the floor, Dejan Sencanski tied the game with a three from the right wing. Avery Patterson then had two bonus shots 1:02 seconds into the contest to give Tarleton a 5-3 lead.
Daniels then had a layup at 18:09 before Patterson added a jumper to make it 9-3 Tarleton. A Jeffrey Henfield free throw stretched the Texan lead to seven with 15:55 on the clock, but the Wildcats would go on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 10 apiece. Scoring in the run for the visitors was Sencanski with a layup and a jumper and a Dante Adams three.
Limar Wilson then drove the lane and hit a floater for the Texans to return the lead to Tarleton, but Corwin Ragland had a free throw for the Wildcats. With 11:12 on the clock, Marlin Cloudy then hit a three from the left wing before the junior had an old-fashioned three-point play almost a minute later.
Sencanski then sandwiched a Patterson free throw with baskets to cut the lead to four before Terrence Gamble and Ragland traded baskets. Daniels then had a jumper at 8:15 to make it 23-17 Texans.
Eric Williams added to the lead when kissed a jumper off the glass prior to Adams and Patterson trading a layup and two free shots, respectively. Gamble had a free throw of his own before Marko Nikolic and Daniels traded layups.
Raglund had a free throw to cut the Texan lead to eight, but Gamble and Patterson had buckets to push the Tarleton lead to 12. Ragland then had a jumper with 32 ticks left on the first half clock. With time running out in the first period, Eric Williams tried a three from the left wing and missed, but Cloudy got the rebound from about 25 feet, turning around and sinking the shot to beat the buzzer. Tarleton went into the locker room with a 37-24 advantage.
Musa got the first points in the second half with 19:21 on the board before Gamble scored 12 seconds later. Ragland added two free throws for the visitors to cut the lead to 11, but a Williams' bonus shot at 18:17 made it 40-28 Tarleton.
Sencanski had a layup to cut the lead to 10 before a Patterson free throw, but a Sencanski layup cut the lead to single digits. Williams and Ragland traded threes before the Texan got a jumper to make it 46-35. Brandon Callahan followed with a layup, but Daniels found Cloudy open in the left corner, and the Tarleton junior hit the open three to make it 49-37.
Nikolic had two free throws at 13:38 before teammate Ragland had a three from the top of the key to cut the Texan lead to seven with 11:59 remaining in the contest. Callahan then cut the lead to five with a layup with 10:35 on the clock.
Patterson then hit a three to end a 3:41 scoring drought by the home team. Adams had a jumper for the Wildcats before Patterson had another three, this one on a fastbreak from the left corner to return the Texan lead to double digits, 57-47.
With 7:35 remaining in the period, Sencanski had two bonus shots for the visitors, but Dan Eichel did the same on the opposite end. Callahan then had a three for ACU to cut the lead to seven. Gamble added a free throw for Tarleton with 5:09 on the clock to make it an eight-point game.
Ragland had a three-point play the hard way with 4:13 left in the game before Henfield had free throws eight seconds later to make it 62-55 Texans. Ragland then had two free throws for ACU before Gamble and Musa traded buckets. A Williams' jumper put Tarleton ahead by seven before Ragland had a three with 1:52 left and then a free throw at 1:11 to cut the lead to three, 66-63.
ACU's Callahan would try a three at the buzzer, but it hit the front of the iron and Daniels got the board for the Texans to preserve the win.
Gamble led the team with 14 rebounds and had a double-double with his 10 points. Leading the team in scoring was Patterson with 16 while Cloudy (13) also scored in double figures.
The Texans averaged .386 from the floor (22-57), .300 from the arc (6-20) and .571 from the charity stripe (16-28).
The Wildcats were led by Ragland with 23 points while Sencanski added 17. Musa had 12 rebounds to lead the visitors.
ACU averaged .373 from the field (22-59), .250 from the arc (6-24) and .765 from the line (13-17).
The Texans forced 14 turnovers and turned them into 11 points as the Wildcats forced 17 turnovers and scored 20 points off the blunders. The teams each scored 24 points in the paint while Tarleton outscored ACU in second-chance points, 17-9.
Tarleton will return to action Saturday, Feb. 23 at West Texas A&M in a huge LSC South Division match-up in Canyon. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
