- Box Score
STEPHENVILLE – The No. 17 Tarleton Texans scored 23 unanswered points to take control of Thursday's Lone Star Conference crossover game against Southeastern Oklahoma, and the Texans went on to take an 88-40 victory over the Savage Storm.
Tarleton improved to 5-1 on the year as Tarleton scored 40 points off of 26 SOSU turnovers. The Texans were also two three-point baskets (15) away from tying a school record for buckets behind the arc in a game.
“Our guys really wanted this game tonight,” said Tarleton head coach. “We had a very intense week of practice after Saturday's loss, and though there are still a lot of things we need to work on.”
Tarleton worked itself into an 8-0 hole before scoring its first two points at 16:02 when Wes Dipprey hit a jumper. SOSU's Jamell Cormier returned the lead to eight with a layup before Carrington Tankson and Devon Hills hit back-to-back threes to cut the lead to two at 14:03 (10-8). Darrell Hicks and Hills traded threes in the 13-minute mark.
Cormier and Fabian Wilson traded two free throws each in the 12-minute mark before a three by Wilson at the top of the key gave Tarleton its first lead of the game at 11:34 (16-15). Tankson then had a steal and a layup as did Corin Henry to make it 20-15 with 11:01 on the clock. Hills added two free throws 18 seconds later to increase the lead to seven prior to back-to-back threes by Darrion Washington and Chris Harrell put the Texans ahead 28-15 with 8:02 remaining in the first half.
Tankson then had a three from the corner to increase the lead to 16 at 6:39 before Coleman Furst did the same at 5:37. A 23-0 run by the Texans was ended with a jumper in the paint by Urald King before Will Robinson hit a jumper at 3:40. Hills had two free throws at 2:31 before he followed with a layup at 2:10.
At 2:04, Cormier punched Henry in the face and was called for an intentional foul. Henry proceeded to hit both bonus shots. On the ensuing possession, Hills was fouled on a layup, and the Texan senior hit the backend of a two-shot foul. Hills added another free throw at 1:26 before Warren Webb had two bonus shots with 12 ticks left in the period to give Tarleton a 44-19 halftime lead.
Dipprey scored the first points of the second half at 17:50 with a layup before Washington hit a three and Dipprey and Henry had layups to make it 53-19 with 16:18 remaining in the period. The two teams traded baskets over the next eight minutes before the Texans stretched the lead to 42 at 7:55 with a three by Henry. SOSU cut the lead to 36 with 4:38 on the clock before Tarleton's Charlie Hurd and Tankson hit back-to-back threes to return the lead to 42 with 2:23 on the clock.
Cormier had a free throw before Chris Marshall had his first bucket of his Tarleton career at 1:50. Tankson had a layup after a Harrell steal. Cormier had two free throws with 54 seconds on the clock before Harrell had a three from the left corner followed by a jumper to give the game its final total as the Texans claimed the 48-point victory.
Tankson led the team with 16 points while Hills (14) and Henry (11) each had double figures. Dipprey led the team with six rebounds as Tarleton outrebounded the opponent 45-31.
The Texans averaged .459 from the floor (28-61), .577 from the arc (15-26) and .586 from the charity stripe (17-29).
Cormier had 16 points to lead the team while Elonu had 10 boards to lead the squad.
The Savage Storm averaged .319 from the field (15-47), .167 from the arc (2-12) and .571 from the line (8-14).
Tarleton scored 22 points in the paint to SOSU's 14 while the Texans had 60 points off the bench to the Storm's three.
Tarleton will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. when the Texans host East Central in Wisdom Gym.
