- Box Score
PORTALES, N.M. – The Tarleton Texans ran away from Eastern New Mexico on Saturday as they claimed a 77-53 Lone Star Conference South Division victory in Portales, N.M. to remain atop the division standings.
The Texans are now 13-3 overall and 4-0 in the South Division as the Greyhounds fall to 7-9 overall and 2-2 in the South as Tarleton dominated the second half of the game.
“They are an improved team, but I felt like we were walking in quick sand in the first half,” said head coach Lonn Reisman. “The energy level wasn't there. I felt like we needed to get into gear and get the energy up, and I felt like we did that and gave our best effort in the second half over the last 17 minutes.”
The Texans led by as much as 30 in the second half of the game, and part of that due to Wes Dipprey and Fabian Wilson. Dipprey scored all of his 11 points in the last 20 minutes while pulling down 11 boards for a double-double. Wilson had 16 points – a career-high at Tarleton.
“Wes had a great second half, and Fabian can have these results every night if he will be strong for us on the floor,” Reisman said.
Devon Hills had 10 rebounds for the Texans as he had a season-high.
“Devon can do this every game, he just needs to concentrate more. It's very important that he brings the total package every night.”
The Texans held the Greyhounds to 33.3 percent from the floor, nine percentage points below their season average.
“One we concentrate on every night is keeping people below 37 percent from the field in a game, you are going to give yourself a chance to win the ball game,” Reisman said.
Max Carrier got the scoring going on a layup before Wale Ogunoye and Henry had back-to-back buckets for the Texans. After a Tyler Jefferson layup, Ogunoye and Jefferson traded buckets before Henry had a jumper and a three to put Tarleton up 11-6 with 12:48 on the clock.
After a free throw by Tralyn Harden, Fabian Wilson had two free throws and a three from the top of the key to stretch the lead to 16-7. ENMU had two straight buckets before Ogunoye hit Henry at the top of the key for a three to make it 19-11 Tarleton.
ENMU cut the lead to three before Devon Hills got his own putback for the Texans. At 8:27. ENMU then tied the score with a layup by Jefferson and a three by Stefan Mirabal. With the score tied at 21, Henry hit a three, Hills got a putback and Henry had a jumper to make it 28-21 with 5:14 in favor of the visitors. Harden had a three on the opposite end, but Donta Smith had a jumper followed by two Henry free throws to put Tarleton up 32-24 with 3:46 remaining in the period.
Jefferson sandwiched a Smith jumper in the paint with two layups of his own. He was fouled on the second one, and he made the bonus shot to cut the lead to five. Hills had a layup with 61 ticks left in the period before Carrier got a putback. With 5.8 seconds on the clock, Mirabal missed a free throw and the rebound went to the Texans. After a miss, Wilson got the rebound off the rim and slammed it home at the buzzer to give Tarleton a 38-31 advantage.
After Jefferson scored 20 seconds into the second period, Tarleton scored the next eight points to take a 45-33 lead with 15:58 on the clock. Scoring in the drive was Hills with a free throw, Wes Dipprey with a putback, Henry with two free throws and Ogunoye with a free throw and a layup. Jefferson ended the home team's drought with a layup at 15:52. He was fouled, but he missed the extra shot.
Dipprey and Wilson had two layups before a Mirabal three. Chris Harrell then had two free throws before Versia Hodges had one on the other end. Tarleton then scored nine of the next 11 points with scores coming from Harrell, Warren Webb and Dipprey. Jordan Romero had a layup for the Greyhounds in the Texan run before Jefferson had a free throw.
Hills got a dunk on a putback to put Tarleton up by 20 (62-42) with 9:08 on the clock before Smith added a free throw. Wilson and Dipprey had back-to-back baskets before Michael Maya had a three at 5:22 to end a 4:11-scoring drought by the home team.
After the ENMU three, Dipprey had a free throw, Wilson a layup and a three and Coleman Furst a bankshot to make it a 30-point lead, 75-45. Carrier had a free throw before a Reid three cut the lead to 26, but Nick Mosley hit two free throws for the Texans with 49.4 seconds on the clock. Branch then hit a three for the last bucket of the game as the Texans dribbled out the clock to claim a 77-53 victory.
Tarleton averaged .491 from the floor (27-55), .400 from the arc (6-15) and .708 from the charity stripe (17-24).
ENMU was led by Jefferson with 18 points, five of which were in the second half. He also led the team with nine rebounds as the Texans outrebounded the Greyhounds, 44-27.
The Greyhounds averaged .333 from the field (19-57), .250 from the arc (7-28) and .500 from the line (8-16).
Tarleton outscored the home team 38-24 in the paint, 13-7off turnovers and 31-14 off the bench. The Texans had just 10 turnovers to ENMU's nine.
Tarleton will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 26 at West Texas A&M. Tip-off in Canyon is set for 8 p.m.
