SAN ANGELO – The No. 20 Tarleton Texan defense shined on Saturday in San Angelo to help the Texans claim a 58-44 Lone Star Conference South Division victory at Angelo State.
The Texans improved to 22-4 overall and 13-1 in the division thanks to the defense holding the Rams without a field goal for the first 12:14 of the second half. Tarleton held the Rams 30 points below their season scoring average.
“We knew tonight would be a chore for us tonight, but our defense has been the key for us all year,” said Tarleton head coach Lonn Reisman. “Our kids understood the game plan, and they executed it well. I thought we did a very good job in the second half on defense.”
The Texans were led by Corin Henry with 12 points as he broke the unofficial school record for single season charges taken.
“We have several stats we keep on our hustle board that don't show up in the stats,” Reisman said. “It takes a lot of guts to break that record. Cornell Jones sacrificed his body for us, and this shows the character and determination that this young man has to break that record.”
The Texans just finished a stretch of five games in 11 days, and Tarleton went 5-0 in that stretch as the Texans are in the midst of eight straight wins.
Saturday's win in San Angelo is the Texans' first against the Rams in the Junell Center since Jan. 31, 2007.
Tarleton turned the ball over on its first three possessions while ASU jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to buckets from Trey Mays and Richard Thomas. Carrington Tankson hit a three at 17:04 for the first Tarleton bucket of the night to make it 4-3 before Donta Smith had a layup almost a minute later to give the Texans a 5-4 advantage. Warren Webb got the tip-in at 14:59 to make it 7-4 before Thomas had a three to tie the game at seven with 13:50 on the clock.
Tankson added two free throws before Devon Hills had a three to make it 12-7 with 12:59 remaining in the period. LaDonn Huckabay had a free throw before Thomas had a jumper and Joey Lenox a three to make it 13-12 in favor of the Rams with 9:09 left in the first half.
Hills had a three-point play the hard way before Moore had a jumper. Wes Dipprey then had a jumper for Tarleotn before Thomas had his own old-fashioned three-point play. Fabian Wilson put two free throws in for the Texans at 5:01 before Henry at 4:07 to make it 20-18 Texans.
Hills got a steal and a layup before Henry had a jumper to make it 24-18 with 2:48 on the clock. Moore then scored five points for the Rams to cut the lead to one, 24-23. Dippey had a three for Tarleton with 57 ticks left in the half. After Asante Roberts had a free throw, Nick Mosley hit a jumper with 1.5 seconds on the clock to put Tarleton ahead 29-24 at the break.
Webb got a layup at 18:31 to start the second half scoring, but neither team scored again until Mosley got a layup. He was fouled, but missed the free throw and Tarleton got the board. Mosley then had another layup to give the Texans a 35-24 lead at 13:41. Andre Adams had two free throws before Wilson had a layup. After two Huckaby free throws, Henry had a free throw, a steal and a layup and a layup that banked off the glass to put Tarleton ahead 42-28 with 10:39 on the clock. The Rams took 6:53 in the first half just to get a score (free throws by Adams).
Coleman Furst had two free throws for the Texans at 8:53 before Moore had the first basket for the Rams of the second half at 7:46. ASU went without a field goal for the first 12:14 of the second period, and a total of 13:51 going back to the end of the first 20 minutes.
Thomas and Mosley traded two free throws each before Moore and Tankson traded three-point shots to make it 49-35 with 5:40 on the clock. Thomas had a layup before Mays had a free throw. Henry then got two free throws for the Texans before Wilson hit the senior point guard on a fastbreak layup after a steal. Adams got a tip-in for the home team before Furst found Wilson for a windmill dunk to make it 55-40 with 2:50 remaining in the half.
Mosley traded a free throw with two Thomas free throws before Dipprey had a bucket at 1:17 to make it a 16-point lead (58-42). Mays had a jumper in the paint with 57.2 seconds left, but that would be the last score of the half as Tarleton won 58-44.
Henry was the only Texan in double figures as Tarleton shot .408 from the floor (20-49), .250 from the arc (4-16) and .700 from the charity stripe (14-20). Hills was tops on the team with eight rebounds as Tarleton outrebounded the home team, 36-29.
ASU was led by Thomas with 16 points and Moore with 12. Thomas led the squad with eight rebounds.
The Rams averaged .333 from the field (14-42), .182 from the arc (4-22) and .706 from the line (12-17).
Tarleton will return to action on Thursday, March 3 at the LSC Championship Tournament. Tip-off against Southwestern Oklahoma is set for 8:30 p.m. at Bruin Fieldhouse in Bartlesville, Okla.
