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STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton men's basketball seniors Effran Bryant and Jeremiah Wilson were honored before and after Saturday's home game against Texas A&M-Kingsville. Before the game, the two were honored for being seniors, and after the game, the duo was celebrated for leading the Texans to a 78-59 Lone Star Conference South Division win.

Tarleton improved to 21-5 overall and 9-2 in the division to maintain a tie atop the South Division standings. 

Bryant has now tallied 82 wins in his four seasons with the Texans in which he has become a crowd favorite – partly because he has helped to keep the winning tradition alive.

“This win is really important to win this game because I won my first game as a freshman in Wisdom Gym, and I left coach off with a winning streak to improve on as the years go on,” Bryant said.  “These four years mean a lot to me.  I came in as a boy, and with the help of the Coach [Lonn] Reisman and the rest of the coaching staff, I have developed my game, and I have developed into a man.  It is an incredible experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.”

Reisman said Bryant has been a pleasure with which to work.

“Four year players are special,” Reisman said.  “He has spent so many hours in the gym and study hall, and I have watched him give everything to this program and this University. I am very proud of all he has done, and I am looking forward to him graduating this spring.”

Wilson has helped the team to 39 wins over the last two seasons, and he is proud to wear the purple and white.

“This is one of the best programs I have been in, and I want to thank the Tarleton coaching staff and the Tarleton family for all their support and for making me as successful as I have been,” Wilson said.  “To win tonight on my last night in Wisdom Gym is a great thing.”

Reisman is glad to have Wilson on his squad as well.

“Jeremiah has been a big part of our program, and he has had an outstanding senior season,” Reisman said.  “He has bought into our philosophy and he has been a tremendous asset to our program.  I look forward to watching him graduate this summer.”

The Texans handed the two seniors a big win that guarantees the Texans either the first or second seed in the LSC Postseason Tournament, and the head coach was proud of the way the team played on Saturday.

“I thought after we got things going in the first half, we really played well,” Reisman said.  “In the second half, we really played good defense and took care of the ball for most of the half.  We had a great crowd, and I am thankful for the way our community has come out to support us.”

The first half was low scoring through the first 10 minutes of the contest.  Wilson put the Texans on the board first before Wale Ogunoye had a free throw at 17:50 to make it 3-0.  Donta Smith did the same over a minute later to give the Texans a four-point lead.  Marcus Ford hit the Javelinas' first bucket from the top of the key behind the arc to cut the lead to one with 15:26 on the clock. 

Devon Hills then had a free throw followed by a layup to make it a four-point lead again, but TAMUK hit a three to cut the score to 7-6 with 13:08 remaining in the period.  Warren Webb had a jumper for the home team before Hills had a layup.  Phillip Belford then had a three to give the Javelinas a 12-11 lead with 11:20 on the clock.  However, the lead did not last but 16 seconds as Wilson had a jumper for Tarleton to return the advantage to the Texans. 

Webb had a layup for Tarleton before a free throw by Ryan Wallace cut the lead to two, but Bryant had a three from the left wing at 8:45.  Hills had a free throw almost a minute later before Corin Henry added two free throws.  Royce Gaye got the Javelinas first field goal inside the arc to cut the lead to six, but Bryant had a free throw on the opposite end.  Henry  and Wallace traded baskets before Naquawn Lee and Henry did the same. 

Henry then had an old-fashioned three-point play at 5:01 to make it a 10-point advantage for the purple and white, 29-19.  Wallace had a bucket before Wilson traded a free throw with a Flavio Milam layup.  Bryant then hit a three on an assist from Webb to return the lead to 10 (33-23) with 3:27 on the clock.  Adan Montalvo, Hills and Milam traded buckets before Hills nailed a three from the left corner to make it 38-27 with 1:43 on the clock.

Milam then did the same on the opposite end with 91 seconds remaining in the period before Hills had a layup with 40 seconds remaining to give the game its halftime score with the Texans leading 40-30.  The Javelinas shot 46.2 percent from the field while Tarleton tallied a 58.3 percentage from the floor.

Wilson started the second half with a three from the top of the key to stretch the lead to 14 before Gaye got a tip-in for the Javelinas.  Henry then nailed a three before Lee hit two free throws for the visitors.  Wilson had a bucket for the Texans before Wallace and Wilson traded layups. Lee had the same at 13:50 to make it 50-38 Texans.

Hills hit a three from the left wing for the Texans before Mullins had a three-point play the hard way on the other end.  At 11:53, Smith had a layup for the home team to return the lead to 14 before Oguonye had a layup. Bryant added a free throw, Wilson a layup and Hills a dunk on a fastbreak to put the Texans up 62-41 with 8:46 on the clock.  Bryant and Belford traded threes prior to Lee hitting two bonus shots.  Bryant sandwiched a jumper and a three around a free throw by Hills to put the Texans ahead by 25 (71-46) with 4:38 on the clock.

Belford had another three for the visitors at 3:58 before Smith had a tip-in at 2:20.  Milam had a three at 1:58 prior to a layup by Montalvo to cut the lead to 19.  Milam and Charlie Hurd traded jumpers with just more than a minute on the clock before Larry Petite had a three with 12.28 seconds left in the game.  Gaye hit a three with just two ticks left, but it wasn't enough as the Texans won 78-59.

 Hills recorded his first double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead all players in the two categories.  Bryant (16), Wilson 914) and Henry (12) each had double figures on Saturday as the Texans averaged .558 from the floor (29-52), .500 from the three-point arc (9-18) and .407 from the charity stripe (11-27).

Tarleton outrebounded TAMUK 39-23 and outscored them in the paint (32-22), off turnovers (15-12), on second-chance points (22-4), on fastbreak points (11-4) and off the bench (29-21).

The Javelinas were led by Milam and Belford with 12 points apiece while Ford led the squad with seven rebounds.

The visitors averaged .431 from the field (22-51), .429 from the arc (9-21) and .667 from the line (6-9).

Tarleton will return to action in its final regular season game when it travels to San Angelo to face Angelo State at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27.