- Box Score

STEPHENVILLE – The No. 1 and No. 3 defenses in the nation faced off in Stephenville on Saturday night with Lone Star Conference standings on the line.  The Buffs fought valiantly, but the Texans came out victorious, 59-56.

The teams were pumped up for the start and the physicality of the game was apparent right off the bat.  The Texans took an early lead, but the Buffs quickly answered and took a lead of their own by the 16:40 mark, 5-4. 

That sparked a Tarleton run as the hosts pulled ahead 10-5 with 14:05 on the clock.  WTAMU was not going to go away though and came back for a 12-10 deficit.

The rest of the half consisted of Tarleton extending the lead to five points then watching as the Buffs clawed their way back to a two-point game.

By the half, the Texans hung on with a 33-28 lead.  Tarleton was ahead as much as eight, but WTAMU hit a three late in the half to make it five points at the break.

Through the first 20 minutes, the Texans shot 50 percent from the floor and hit all five of their free throws.  WTAMU also shot 50 percent from the floor and hit 62.5 percent from behind the arc.

Chris Harrell led the Texans at the break with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting while Wes Dipprey added eight points and a season-high four steals.

Tez Dumars gave Tarleton headaches in the first half with 12 points, all on three pointers.  WT's leading scorer Kennon Washington was held scoreless at the break.

The Texans lead was thanks to an inside advantage with Tarleton outscoring the visitors 18-8 in the paint.

At the start of the second half, WTAMU took their 3-0 run and extended it to an 11-point run, taking a 36-33 lead by the 15:10 mark.  That would be their biggest lead of the game.

The Buffs held on to the lead for quite awhile however and put the Texans in a difficult situation they have only faced a couple of times this year.

Tarleton managed to wrestle the lead away from WTAMU and pulled back ahead 45-44 at the 7:22 mark.

The Texans had a 48-47 lead with 4:58 remaining and started to pull away.  Tarleton extended their lead to as much as nine points with 57 seconds left with clutch free throws by Harrell.

WTAMU did not give up though and started heaving up three's late.  A couple of them even went in.

They would not be enough though and Tarleton held on for a 59-56 victory over the Buffs.

Overall, Tarleton shot 46.7 percent from the floor and struggled behind the arc going 2-for-12.  The Texans did hit their free throws down the stretch though and finished 15-for-20. 

Tarleton held WTAMU to 45.5 percent from the floor and forced 17 turnovers from the Buffs.

Harrell led the Texans with 18 points to go with six rebounds, while Dipprey added 13 points and six steals, a career high.  Fabian Wilson contributed 10 boards as well.

Tez Dumars led the Buffs with 19 points, hitting six three's and Donald Sims chipped in 17 points and eight boards.

The Texans outscored WTAMU 28-16 in the paint.

Wes Dipprey talked about the game afterwards.

“I just knew we were going to have to be physical and aggressive,” said Dipprey.  “Tonight was a huge challenge for me, Fabian (Wilson) and Zach (Nelson) inside and we got the job done.”

The Texans improved their record to 12-1 and 5-0 in conference play.  With the win, Tarleton ties Midwestern State at the top of the standings and knocks WTAMU down to a 12-2, 5-1 mark.

Tarleton will stay in Stephenville for their next game against Angelo State on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 8 p.m.

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