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STEPHENVILLE – The No. 17 Tarleton Texan men's basketball team will return to action this week hosting two Lone Star Conference crossover games. Tarleton will play Southeastern Oklahoma at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 2 before hosting East Central at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4.

The Texans are 4-1 this season after a 4-44 loss in their last outing at Cameron on Saturday. Tarleton opened the year with four victories before Saturday's defeat.

Tarleton is led by Corin Henry with 13.6 points per game while he also leads the squad with 22 assists and is tied with Chris Harrell with 11 steals. Devon Hills is second on the team with 10.8 points per game while Wes Dipprey tops the team with 6.2 rebounds per game. Donta Smith is second on the team with 4.6 boards per outing.

The Texans are averaging .487 from the floor, .313 from the three-point arc and .696 from the charity stripe while opponents are shooting .326 from the field, .343 from the arc and .698 from the line. Tarleton is outrebounding opponents 40.4 to 28.0 and outscoring them 84.0 to 46.2.

Southeastern Oklahoma enters the game 1-4 overall after a 75-41 loss at Midwestern State on Tuesday. 

Darrell Hicks leads the team with 11.7 points per game while Jamell Cormier (10.8) and Urald King (10.2) are also averaging in double figures. King's 7.0 rebounds per game is tops on the team while Chibuzo Elonu is second with 5.7 boards per outing.

The Savage Storm is averaging .355 from the field, .247 from the arc and .707 from the line while opponents are shooting .412 from the floor, .361 from the arc and .611 from the stripe. SOSU is being outrebounded 39.3 to 36.8 and outscored 71.5 to 58.0.

The two teams have met 21 times dating back to 1974, and Tarleton leads the all-time series, 16-5. The Texans won last year's meeting in Durant, Okla., 48-43. Tarleton has won 12 straight over the Savage Storm.

Heading into the weekend, East Central is 5-1 after a 57-54 overtime win against Southwestern Christian. The Tigers (5-1) will play at Midwestern State on Thursday before traveling to Stephenville Saturday.

The Tigers, under a new head coach, are led by Denarius Darby with 14.0 points per game and Jamal Edwards with 12.3 points per game. Antwone Snead leads the team with 9.8 rebounds per outing while Edwards is second with 7.7 boards per game.

ECU is averaging .432 from the field, .284 from the arc and .675 from the line while opponents are shooting .389 from the floor, .252 from the arc and .620 from the stripe. The Tigers are outrebounding opponents 40.8 to 26.3 and outscoring them 62.5 to 57.5.

The two teams have met 14 times since 1990 and Tarleton leads the all-time series, 12-2. However, the Tigers won last year's contest in Ada, Okla., 104-88. Prior to that, Tarleton had won five straight contests.

Both games will be broadcast on KSTV 93.1 FM and fans can watch live stats and live video via TarletonSports.com.