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STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton Texans set a new record of margin of victory on Saturday in a 108-30 win over Arlington Baptist as Tarleton claimed its eighth straight season opening victory and its 17th straight home opener.
The Texans led 56-11 at the break before Tarleton outscored the visitors 52-19.
“I don't want to say anything against Arlington Baptist, they played hard, but I expected a little more competition,” said Tarleton head coach Lonn Reisman. “I can promise next weekend won't be this way.
“We are still learning a lot about each other, and we have a lot of people that can contribute to this basketball team,” Reisman continued. “Right now, anyone can start for this team. We will look for different chemistry and different rotations throughout the year.”
The Texans averaged .514 from the floor Saturday, including a .409 mark from the three-point line, while the defense held the Patriots to .237 from the field and .286 from the arc.
“I thought we executed well on defense,” Reisman said. “We have get better at ball containment, and our rotation needs to continue to get better. We just have to keep getting better each day, and I saw many thing on which we still need a lot of work.”
Tarleton scored the first four points of the game with a jumper by Devon Hills and two free throws by Corin Henry before Atoine Thompson had a layup for the visitors at 19:13. Tarleton then went on a 16-0 run with buckets from Hills, Donta Smith, Chris Harrell, Darrion Washington as well as free throws from Henry.
The next Patriot point came with a free throw at 12:22 by Micha Pointer, but Tarleton again went on a 28-0 run to take a 48-4 lead with 4:23 left in the first half. Scoring in the run was Fabion Wilson, Hills, Smith, Harrell, Washington (on back-to-back threes), Coleman Furst and Wes Dipprey.
ABC's Aric Stroop had two free throws at 4:23 before Hills and Wilson hit two each on their own. Ralph Chavez had another free throw for ABC at 2:51 to make it 52-6 before he hit two more with 56 seconds left in the first period. Nick Mosley had a free throw with 44 ticks left in the half before Larry Petite had an old-fashioned three-point play with seven seconds left. Stroop then hit a three as time expired to give the game its halftime score of 56-11.
Stroop got the first bucket of the second half on a layup, but the Texans scored the next 12 points to take a 68-13 lead. Devonte Robertson had a three at 16:11 for the visitors before Tarleton's Webb had a layup. Mosley had back-to-back buckets and a free throw for the Texans and Washington added two free throws to make it 77-19.
With 8:08 left in the contest, Tarleton stretched the lead to 72 with a three-point shot by Charile Hurd to make it 93-21. At 4:47, a Smith layup gave Tarleton its 100th point and a 77-point advantage. The two teams traded buckets before two free throws by James Thomas put Tarleotn ahead 108-30 with 65 ticks left to give the game its final total.
Washington led the team with 19 points, a career-high after going five-of-five from the arc, while Hills (17), Webb (13) and Wilson (10) each had double digits. Wes Dipprey had 10 rebounds to lead the team.
Stroop led the visitors with 12 points.
Tarleton outrebounded ABC 55-16 and forced 28 turnovers as the Texans had 11.
Tarleton will return to action on Friday, Nov. 19 at home in the Texan Tip-Off Classic against Texas-Permian Basin at 7 p.m. The Texans will host Newman on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. in the final game of the Classic.
