- Box Score

STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton men's basketball team looked to win their second straight game when they hosted Southwestern Assemblies of God Saturday night in Wisdom Gym.  The undefeated Lions put up a fight, but the Texans escaped with a 79-68 victory.

The Texans took an early lead on a quick Fabian Wilson lay-up, but the Lions quickly answered with a bucket of their own.  Little did the fans in attendance know, but that would become a theme for the first half.

No matter what Tarleton did offensively, SAGU found little trouble responding on their end. 

The Texans even trailed early as the Lions jumped out to a 7-6 lead by the 15:22 mark.  Tarleton managed to take back the lead, 8-7, with 15:14 to play and held it the rest of the half.

With a 36-31 lead over SAGU, Tarleton was ahead but not comfortable in its position.

The Texans out-shot the Lions 50 percent to 40 percent, but only held a five-point advantage at the half.  A major factor that kept SAGU in the game was Tarleton shooting just 9.1 percent from behind the arc, going 1-for-11.

Wes Dipprey led Tarleton through the first 20 minutes with nine points and four rebounds on perfect 4-for-4 shooting.  Fabian Wilson added eight points, while Zach Nelson added six points and six rebounds. 

From those statistics alone you could tell that the Texans' advantage against the Lions was in the paint.  Tarleton out-scored SAGU 26-14 in the paint in the first half.

The Lions were led by Dominique Rambo's 14 points in the first half, which led all scorers.

As the second half got started, it was up to Tarleton to shake off the pesky Lions, who continued to hang with the No. 8 team in the nation.

The Texans added to their lead early with their initial game plan of pounding the ball inside.  Nelson and Wilson combined for the first couple of baskets to the second half as Tarleton pulled ahead 40-33 with 18:05 on the clock.

SAGU's attack was balanced in the first half, but as the Texans pulled away in the second half, they turned to the deep ball.  Most times, that tends to make things worse for teams that are down, but the Lions caught fire and were red-hot from the three-point line.

Tarleton continued to grind it out inside, led by Nelson, who picked up a double-double for his efforts.  A pair of free throws put the Texans ahead 17 by the 12:35 mark.

Once again though, SAGU nailed their three point attempts and cut the lead back down to single digits with 1:33 on the clock.  Tarleton held a slight 74-65 advantage with time becoming a factor.

The Lions got as close as eight points at 76-68, but the Texans' free throws sealed the deal and the victory.

Nelson, the MVP of last weekend's Texan Tip-Off Classic, led the Tarleton with 16 points, 14 rebounds and five assists.  Chris Harrell chipped in 16 points with Fabian Wilson adding 10.

As a team, the Texans shot 55.1 percent from the field and hit 20 of their 33 free throws.  The Lions hung in there by shooting 11-of-35 from three-point range.  Overall, SAGU shot 41.9 percent from the floor.

Dominique Rambo was a major pain for the Texan defense, scoring 28 points on the night and hitting five three's.  The Lions also committed fewer turnovers than the Texans with 16 compared to Tarleton's 21 turnovers.

Tarleton finished off SAGU for its second straight win and improves its record to 5-1.  The Texans hand the Lions their first loss of the season as they fall to 6-1.

"We need to continue to improve," said Reisman.  "People thought (Southwestern Assemblies of God) was going to come in be pushovers, but I tell you, they are a really good team.  I want to get our guys into practice and see more consistency from them.  We have conference games coming up and there is a lot of ground to cover."

With Lone Star Conference season approaching, Tarleton will gear up for next Wednesday's meeting with Cameron.  The Texans take on the Aggies at home at 8 p.m., Nov. 30.

For more information regarding the 2011-12 Tarleton men's basketball season, check out TarletonSports.com.