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STEPHENVILLE – After being down by 13 points in the beginning of the second half, the Tarleton Texans outscored West Texas A&M 36-19 in the final 16:07 of the game to win the Lone Star Conference South Division contest, 56-52.
“This game was a gut-check,” said head coach Lonn Reisman. “West Texas A&M has a great team, and they are coming off a big victory over Midwestern State. They came out and were ready to play tonight.”
Tarleton went from hitting just one of every four shots taken in the first 20 minutes to shooting .438 from the floor in the final 20 minutes to help claim the contest.
“I thought we got back to the way we want to play basketball there in the second half,” Reisman said. “Coach Rick Cooper does a great job with his team, and I think one of the big factors was that after trailing them in rebounds in the first half, we ended up tying them. We also shot the ball better in the second half and did what we needed to get the win tonight.”
The two teams had 32 rebounds apiece in the contest, but Tarleton shot 42 free throws as the Buffs shot just 17.
Devon Hills slammed a dunk home with 19:19 on the clock to open the scoring on Saturday, jumping from outside the lane to put the ball in the rim. Nick Burns then connected on a three-point shot to put the visitors ahead by one before Hills had two free throws at 17:31 to give the Texans a 4-3 lead. Corin Henry had a free throw to push the lead to two before a tip-in by Bijan Dotson tied the game at five with 16:52 on the clock.
Dotson had a free throw before a layup by Donta Smith gave the Texans a 7-6 lead, but Dotson connected on two bonus shots to put the visitors ahead by one. Smith had a layup before two Wale Ogunoye free throws made it 11-8 Tarleton with 13:04 on the clock. However, a three by Joe Mincey tied the score at 11 just 28 seconds later.
A layup by Hills was followed by a free throw by Mincey and then a layup by the Buff to return the lead to WTAMU. Jeremiah Wilson got a dunk for Tarleton to tie the game at 15 at 9:16 before WTAMU scored five straight. Two free throws by Hills cut the led to three before Wilson hit two at 5:49 to make it 20-19 visitors.
A layup by Jacquiese Holcombe at 4:32 increased the Buff lead to three before a free throw by Henry at 1:57 to make it 22-20 at the half in favor of the visitors. The Texans' last bucket of the first half came at 9:16 as Tarleton shot just 25 percent from the floor and was zero-for-five from beyond the arc.
The Buffs scored the first 11 points of the second half to take a 33-20 lead with 16:34 on the clock. Smith then ended a 12:09 bucket drought to start a 10-0 run. Henry had a layup in the run while Oguonye had two free throws, Hills had one and Henry had a three to make it 33-30 with 12:10 on the clock.
LaDarius Hall had two free throws before Wilson hit a three from the top of the key to cut the lead to one with 10:35 on the clock. Hall and Wilson then traded layups, but the Texan was fouled. Wilson connected on the old-fashioned three-point play to make it 37-36 Buffs. Hall then hit a three at 8:24 to make it a four-point ballgame before Henry hit two free throws for the Texans almost 40 seconds later to make it 40-38.
With 7:06 on the clock, Hills hit a free throw to cut the lead to one before Effran Bryant nailed a three from the right corner to return to the lead to the Texans at 6:27. Dotson had a free throw to cut the lead to one before a layup by Warren Webb made it 44-41. Wilson added a free throw at 5:04 before Darrion Washington hit two at 3:48 to make it 47-41 Texans.
A bucket by Hall at 1:56 cut the Tarleton lead to four before Bryant went to the line 40 seconds later. The senior hit both free throws to make it 49-43 before Nick Burns did the same on the opposite end with 68 seconds left. Henry was fouled with 48.15 seconds on the clock, and the junior connected on both free shots. Mincey went to the line at 41.01 and hit two shots to cut the lead to 51-47. Henry was fouled to stop the clock with 22.83 ticks left, and the Texan hit the backend of the two-shot foul. A Buff turnover led to a foul on Bryant with 16.73 seconds left, and the Humble native connected on both bonus shots to make it 54-47. Burns hit a three from the top of the key with 11 seconds left to cut the lead to 54-50 before Henry was fouled with 9.6 on the clock. The Texan hit both before Dotson got a putback on the other end just before the buzzer to make it 56-52 Tarleton.
Henry led the squad with 14 points to lead Tarleton while Wilson (11) and Hills (10) each had double digits for Tarleton while Smith led the squad with six boards.
The Texans averaged .333 from the floor (12-36), .214 from the arc (3-14) and .690 from the charity stripe (29-42).
The Buffs were led by Dotson with 16 and Burns with 14. Dotson's 10 rebounds led the visitors who averaged .370 from the field (17-46), .333 from the arc (6-18) and .706 from the line (12-17).
Tarleton will return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 16 at Abilene Christian. The game will take place on the McMurry University campus with tip-off set for 8 p.m.
