- Box Score
STEPHENVILLE – After a 23-day layoff, the Tarleton Texan men's basketball team wasted no time shaking off the rust as the purple and white returned to the win column with a 94-51 victory over Dallas Christian on Thursday.
Darrion Washington led the squad with 17 points as the Texan defense – which is ranked No. 1 in the country – held true as they held the Crusaders to 27.3 percent shooting from the floor and 51 total points.
“We got the rust off tonight, and since we haven't played in 23 days, we really needed to do that,” said Tarleton head coach Lonn Reisman. “We needed to play like we did tonight. I thought we held them to a low shooting percentage and to 51 points.
“Like I have said before, we may not make a shot, but we are going to play hard defensively and be good at it,” the head coach continued. “We still have a lot of work to do, including our rebounding. We did some things pretty well tonight, but we still have to keep getting better each day.”
Tarleton jumped out to a 10-0 lead against DCC with baskets from Warren Webb, Devon Hills and Wes Dipprey with two free throws by Wale Ogunoye. Antwoine Warren put the first points on the board for the visitors at 17:36 with a jumper before Ogunoye and Anthony Tubbs traded baskets. A steal and dunk by Hills was followed by a Darrion Washington three from the left corner to put the Texans ahead 17-4 with 15:16 on the clock.
Warren was fouled when he missed a three, but he connected on all three bonus shots to cut the lead to 10. Hills had a free throw before a Tubbs' three cut the lead to eight (18-10) with 14:19 on the clock. Washington hit another three before a layup by Howard Hughes and another by Chris Harrell. With Tarleton leading 23-12, Harrell sank two free throws to give the Texans a 13-point advantage.
Harrell had two more free throws before a Chevis High jumper, but the Texans scored the next nine points with free throws from Hills, a layup by Carrington Tankson and Corin Henry and a three from the right corner to make it 34-14 with 7:47 remaining in the first half.
Washington had a three at 6:42 followed by a Tubbs jumper 22 seconds later before fastbreak layup by Wilson gave Tarleton a 39-16 lead with just over five minutes left in the half. Henry and Isaac Gonzales traded two free throws each before Tankson hit a three at 2:19 to make it a 26-point game (44-18). Donta Smith then had the Texans' last six points with three layups while a three by Hughes with 32 seconds left. Tarleton led 50-21 at the break.
The two teams traded points over the first three minutes of the second period before a three by Washington – his fourth of the game – put Tarleton ahead by 29 points (57-28) with 16:23 on the clock. After a three by Warren, the Texans scored the next seven points with a layup by Dipprey, Wilson and Henry – two of which came after steals. Wilson had a free throw for the home team to make it 64-31at 13:11.
Gonzales and Carrington Tankson traded points as did Smith and Warren before a Crusader steal led to a Gonzales layup. Warren followed with two more free shots before Webb did the same for the Texans. Ogunoye then got a putback to make it 74-37 with just over seven and a half minutes left.
A Washington three at 6:53 made it a 38-point lead before Tubbs and Webb traded points. Dipprey had a free throw followed by a Hills' layup that made it 82-41. Warren had one free throw on two different occasions before Tankson hit Wilson on the left wing for a three to put the Texans ahead by 42 points (85-43) with 3:51 remaining.
The two teams traded free throws over the last few minutes as Texans' Henry and Washington connected from the line before James Thomas had a layup for Tarleton. Warren scored the last point at 1:18 for the visitors before a three by Harrell with 34 ticks left gave the game its final total as the Texans won, 94-51.
Other Texans joining Washington in double figures was Henry (11) and Hills (10). Smith led the squad with nine rebounds as the Texans outrebounded the visitors 36-24.
Tarleton averaged .582 from the floor (32-55), .455 from the three-point arc (10-22) and .833 from the charity stripe (20-24).
Tarleton outscored DCC 42-10 in the paint and 26-12 off turnovers. The Texans also outscored the opponent 49-2 off the bench and 20-2 in fastbreak points.
The Crusaders were led by Warren with 19 points while Tubbs added 11. Warren also led the team with five rebounds.
DCC averaged .273 from the field (12-44), .211 from the arc (4-19) and .767 from the line (23-30).
Tarleton will return to action on Monday, Jan. 3 at home against Texas A&M-Commerce at 7 p.m.
“We have got to get better at rebounding the ball and containing the ball as we go through the season, and it starts by getting ready for Monday's game,” Reisman said.
