ABILENE – The Tarleton Texans used a big first half run to claim a 20-point win at Abilene Christian on Tuesday to win the first Lone Star Conference South Division contest of the year.
The win improved Tarleton to 10-3 on the season as the Texans claimed their eighth division opening victory in 10 tries as the No. 1 defense in the nation held the Wildcats to 32.6 percent from the floor.
“ACU is a good team, and they have been palying well at home,” said Tarleton head coach Lonn Reisman. “The Wildcats were undefeated before tonight at 6-0, but we did what we need to get the victory, especially on defense. Anytime we keep the team below 37 percent, we give ourselves a chance to win.”
The Texans averaged 40.9 percent from the floor in the victory, something else that pleased the head coach.
“ACU switched defenses on us so much, but I thought our kids reacted well to that tonight,” Reisman said.
Corin Henry and Wes Dipprey led the Texans to the victory as Henry tallied 21 points and had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards in the contest.
“Corin really worked on his free throw shooting and looked at some things on film that he needed to improve on, and I feel he did those things tonight,” Reisman said. “Wes is coming along, and all of our post players are really starting to contribute. This is a team effort, everyone contributed to tonight's win.”
The Wildcats got on the board first with a Giordan Cole layup before Preston Davis made a jumper to give the home team a 4-0 lead just 45 seconds into the contest. The first Tarleton points came with 17:16 on the clock when Carrington Tankson hit a jumper in the paint. Neither team scored for almost two minutes before Marcus Washington had a free throw on the backend of a two-shot foul.
Fabian Wilson had a layup for Tarleton after a Henry steal to pull Tarleton within one, but two Zach Williams' free throws made it 7-4 Wildcats with 14:41 remaining in the half. After 1:40 ran off the clock, Henry recorded an old-fashioned three-point play to tie the game at 7 with 13:01 on the clock. Tarleton took its first lead on two Tankson charity shots at 11:48, but a Williams' jumper tied the game at nine 46 seconds afterwards.
Dipprey had two free throws for Tarleton before Dosh Simms had a free throw. A three-point shot at 9:50 increased the Texan lead to 14-10 prior to a Wilson dunk that made it a six-point game with 8:32 on the clock.
After Cole had a dunk on the opposite end, Henry had four free throws within 12 seconds to put Tarleton up 20-12 with 7:32 remaining in the half. Desmond Woodberry and Chris Harrell traded buckets before Alex Richman was fouled shooting a three. The Wildcat hit all three bonus shots to make it 22-7 with 5:40 on the clock. Washington had a free throw before a Henry three from the top of the key and a Harrell three from the left corner.
Dipprey had a layup for Tarleton before he got a steal underneath Tarleton's basket after a defensive rebound by ACU. The Texan junior put it in and was fouled. He finished the three-point play the hard way to double-up the Wildcats, 34-17. Tarleton finished the half on a 32-12 run, going into the break with a 17-point advantage.
Oguonye started the second half hitting the front end of a two-shot foul before Simms had a layup for the home team. Ogunoye then took it to the hole to make it 37-19 with 18:46 on the clock. Preston and Henry traded layups before Woodberry had a bucket. Dipprey added to the lead with two free throws at 16:10 to make it 41-23 before ACU scored the next five points before Wilson got a putback to beat the shotclock.
Wilson then buried a three at 13:58 to make it 46-28 Tarleton before Henry hit back-to-back baskets for the Texans. Tarleton led 49-28 with 13:31 remaining in the contest. Preston got a steal and a layup on the other end for the Wildcats, but Hills had a bucket on Tarleton's end. Mosley then had a slam with just over 11 minutes left to give Tarleton a 23-point advantage (53-30).
At 9:20, Cole had a layup for the Wildcats before Ben Warton got his own for the home team, but Henry hit a three at 8:22 to make it 56-34. Cole had a bucket before Dipprey had a free throw. Davis then banked in a three from the top of the key to cut the lead to 18. The Wildcat then had two free throws before Washington did the same on the opposite end. Tarleton led 59-41. ACU then had two free throws to cut the lead to 16, but at 2:06, Henry had two free throws for the Texans to make it 61-44.
Tankson then had two free throws followed by one from Henry to put the score at 64-43. Cole then had one for the Wildcats to give the game its final total as the Texans win, 64-45.
Tarleton averaged .409 from the floor (18-44), .500 from the arc (5-10) and .852 from the stripe (23-27).
The Wildcats were led by Davis with 16 points and Cole with 11 while Simms was the top rebounder with seven.
ACU averaged .326 from the field (15-46), .182 from the arc (2-11) and .545 from the line (12-22).
Tarleton was outrebounded 34-29, but the Texans outscored the home team 29-20 in the paint, 24-12 off turnovers and 19-9 off the bench.
The Texans will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 15 at home when they host Angelo State at 7 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.
