- Box Score
STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton Texans survived a long-range barrage on Saturday to claim an 85-75 Lone Star Conference South Division victory over Eastern New Mexico in Wisdom Gym on Saturday to push the Texans' home winning streak to 15 games, dating back to last season.
Tarleton allowed just six field goals inside the three-point arc to Eastern New Mexico on Saturday, but the Greyhounds hit 12 three-point buckets to make it a 10-point game.
“I thought this was unfocused we have been in a long time,” said Tarleton head coach Lonn Reisman. “We did not do what we are supposed to do on the floor tonight. We were fortunate to get a win because they outplayed us tonight.”
The Texans turned the ball over 11 times in the first half and only hit 24 of the 42 free throws Saturday, but Tarleton still improved to 17-4 overall and 8-1 in the LSC South.
“I am really disturbed right now because we need to do a better job of taking care of business,” Reisman said. “I have to give Eastern credit because they are playing well right now, but we are not very focused. We need to decide if we are going to get our priorities in order. We did not play tonight the way we need to play to win big ballgames. I am not saying we didn't play hard, but we let them get into a rhythm. We have a lot of refocusing to do in the next few games.”
Tarleton jumped out to a 6-0 lead with 18:46 on the clock after a dunk by Donta Smith, a free throw by Corin Henry and a three by Carrington Tankson. Tralyn Hardin had a three on the opposite end before Tankson added two free throws for the Texans. Henry added another free throw before two bonus shots by Jordan Romero proceeded a layup by Stefan Mirable to make it 9-7 with 16:34 on the clock.
Smith had a layup for the Texans 19 seconds later before Fabian Wilson got a dunk on an inbounds pass from Tankson. Wes Dipprey and Max Carrier traded buckets before Devon Hills nailed a three at 14:18 to make it 18-9. It would be the last Texan field goal for 5:38. In that time, the Greyhounds outscored Tarleton 9-1 to make it 20-18 with 10:12 on the clock.
Tarleton then went on a run with free throws by Dipprey, a layup by Wilson and bonus shots by Coleman Furst to make it 26-18 with 8:13 on the clock. After two Alan Branch free throws, Furst nailed a three from the left corner to stretch the lead to nine at 6:05. Darrion Washington, Tankson and Dipprey would increase the lead to 15 (35-20) with 4:38 remaining in the half.
The two teams traded points before Tarleton led 40-25 with 1:37 on the clock, but ENMU would cut the lead to 10 with free throws by Max Carrier and a three by Harden. With 14 ticks left on the clock, Nick Mosley had a putback to give Tarleton a 42-30 lead at the break.
Harden had two free throws to start the second half at 18:53 before Wilson had a layup. Stefan Mirabal and Henry traded threes. Tanskon would then make a three to make it a 15-point game (50-35) with 16:29 on the clock before Harden had a rare four-point play. The two teams again traded points with a free throw by Smith, a jumper by Versia Hodges and a layup by Wilson. A Tankson jumper in the paint at 14:13 would be the last field goal for the Texans for four minutes. In the meantime, Harden and Hodges would hit back-to-back threes to cut the lead to 55-47.
Furst would connect on two free throws before Wilson had a jumper in the paint, but the a three by Harden and a layup by Carrier would make it 59-52 with 10 minutes left. Hills and Dipprey would have three free throws combined before Victor Reid had a three to cut the lead to seven (62-55). Warren Webb would have a layup before two bonus shots by Dipprey and a putback by Henry. Tarleton led 68-55 with 6:43 on the clock.
A Dipprey jumper was sandwiched by threes by Hodges and Reid before Smith got a backdoor alley-oop from Henry with five minutes left. Mosley then got an offensive board and slammed it home to return the lead to 13, but a three by Mirabal cut into the lead. After Gerald Brown had a free throw, Tankson nailed a three from the left corner. Dipprey added an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 80-65 at 2:44.
The two teams traded free throws prior to Devon Hills had a fastbreak layup at 1:25 to make it 84-71. Brown gave the game its final total with a layup with 24 seconds left in the game as the Texans claimed an 85-75 victory.
Tarleton was led by Tankson with 19 points while Dipprey (15), Henry (11) and Wilson (10) each had double digits. Dipprey led the squad with seven boards as the Texans outrebounded the visitors 44-31.
Tarleton averaged .509 from the floor (27-53), .389 from the arc (7-18) and .571 from the charity stripe (24-42).
Harden, who hit six threes, had 23 points to lead the Greyhounds as Hodges added 13. Brown and Jefferson had six boards to tie for the team lead.
ENMU averaged .411 from the field (23-56), .462 from the arc (12-26) and .630 from the line (17-27).
The Texans outscored the opponent 40-20 in the paint, 16-13 off turnovers and 22-14 on second chance points. Tarleton also outscored ENMU 46-28 off the bench.
Tarleton will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at home when the West Texas A&M Buffaloes tip-off against the purple and white at 8 p.m.
