- Box Score
STEPHENVILLE – The No. 8 Texans looked to rebound from their loss to unranked Washburn this past weekend when they hosted Paul Quinn College Tuesday night. Tarleton was able to do just that by defeating the Tigers, 81-46.
Paul Quinn got off to a hot start and took an 8-5 lead. The Texans came storming back though with a 17-0 run to take a 14-point lead.
Chris Harrell got the surge started with a contested layup in the lane. Demerius Smith added a three from way out and that started the momentum shift. Tarleton had seven different players contribute to the 17-point turnaround.
By the 5:37 mark in the first half, the Texans held onto a 24-10 advantage. With the commanding lead in tact, Tarleton was able to take some risks both offensively and defensively as they sped up the tempo of the contest.
Men's Basketball vs Paul Quinn Gallery
The Texans went on to add 14 points over the final five minutes of the first half and entered the break with a 38-18 lead over the Tigers.
Shedrick Haynes led Tarleton with 10 points in the first 20 minutes of play. Brian Word added five points and five rebounds to the effort. Wes Dipprey contributed six boards.
As a team, the Texans shot 48.3 percent from the field while holding the Tigers to 23.3 percent. A major factor for Tarleton's early success was their 12-0 advantage on second chance points and 17-0 advantage on scoring from the bench.
The second half was more of the same from the Texans as they started right where they left off. Tarleton began the half with a 20-point lead and quickly began to build on it. Paul Quinn managed to cut the difference down to 19 by the 17:35 mark.
The Tigers would not get any closer to the Texans for the rest of the game. Tarleton would break the 30-point lead plateau at the 7:31 mark when Zach Nelson converted on a pair of free throw.
The Texans' biggest lead of the game with 1:44 left in the game when Tarleton pulled ahead by 40 points as fouls hurt Paul Quinn and gave the No. 8 team in the nation free opportunities to score without running time off the clock.
Tarleton easily added an 81-46 victory to their achievements this season as they sent Paul Quinn packing.
Demerius Smith led the Texans with 15 points, while Zach Nelson scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Shedrick Haynes added 10 points and three assists with Fabian Wilson chipping in eight points and nine boards.
Overall, Tarleton shot 48.3 from the field, 35 percent from behind the arc and 64 percent from the free throw line. They held the Paul Quinn to 31.5 percent from the floor and 23.5 percent from three-point range.
Nafis Richardson was the top scorer for the Tigers with 16 points, but hit only six of his 19 attempts. Aaron McCuin added 10 points and seven rebounds to the effort.
The Texans dominated the Tigers in every aspect of the game, including 42-26 points in the paint, 21-9 points off turnovers and 46-10 on bench points.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” said Head Coach Lonn Reisman. “We are not close yet and still need to improve. Our guys have things to learn and we will just get back to work tomorrow.”
Tarleton improves to 4-1 on the year while Paul Quinn falls to 1-3. The Texans will enjoy the Thanksgiving Break before returning to action Saturday at 7 p.m. in Wisdom Gym against Southwestern Assemblies of God.
For more information regarding the 2011-12 Tarleton men's basketball campaign, check back at TarletonSports.com
