- Box Score

CANYON – The Tarleton basketball team had a big meeting with West Texas A&M Saturday night in Canyon.  The Texans scraped their way through a tough game, but were unable to mount a full comeback in the end.

Last year's contest at the First United Bank Center was a low-scoring affair with strong defense and back-and-forth pace.  The Buffs won that meeting, but this year, the Texans were looking for revenge.

The game marked the third for Tarleton in just six days time as they faced the end of their gauntlet week.

As action got underway just past 6:30 in Canyon, the host WTAMU squad set the pace of the game with slow, methodic possessions.

Just like last year, the game got off to a slow start and it was just 3-0 in favor of the Buffs by the 16:10 mark.

The Texans got down by as much as 9-2 with 15:08 remaining before they started their comeback.  Tarleton quickly erased the deficit and made it a 9-9 ball game thanks to strong play by Coleman Furst, Wes Dipprey, and Damion Clemons.

There was 12:10 on the clock with the Texans tied the game and they took their first lead, 10-9, at the 11:27 mark on a Warren Webb free throw.

Tarleton added to their lead, but it would then be WTAMU who would put a run together.  The Buffs took back the lead at 15-13 with eight minutes left in the half.

For the rest of the first half, the Texans and the Buffs would go back-and-forth in a rollercoaster game.  Scoring was hard to come by and both teams had to earn their buckets. Over the final eight minutes of the game, neither team built more than a three-point lead.

As the clock ran out, Tarleton and WTAMU found themselves just where they started with a tie ballgame.

By the half, Tarleton and WTAMU were deadlocked at 25-25.

The Texans only committed three turnovers in the first half, a number that head coach Lonn Reisman would be proud of.  Tarleton also forced seven WTAMU turnovers.

Tarleton shot 42.9 percent from the field and held the Buffs to 36.4 percent shooting.  The Texans were out-rebounded by WTAMU, but they had more steals and blocks.

Coleman Furst sparked the scoring for Tarleton with nine points and a pair of clutch three pointers.  Fabian Wilson added eight points and four boards for the Texans.

Kennon Washington led WTAMU with nine points through the first 20 minutes.

The second half began just as the first had ended with both teams jockeying for position and neither willing to give up ground.

By the first media timeout, the Buffs took a slight lead on three-ball for a 30-27 advantage.

Another WTAMU bucket put the Texans down 33-27 with 13:55 to go in the game, but Dipprey scored a lay-up on a nice pass from Furst to cut the margin to four.

The Buffs' shooting streak continued though and Tarleton soon faced their largest deficit of the game at 36-29.  It was important for the Texan offense to remain patient and the defense to get in the WT shooters' faces.

Harrell's three-pointer at the 13:03 mark was his first basket of the game, and was followed by two Furst free throws and a Dipprey lay-up.  With that, Tarleton was back in the game, 36-36.

The Texans' defense continued to frustrate the Buffalo offense as turnovers and bad shots started to accumulate for the hosts.

Tarleton picked up their first foul of the half with 9:58 on the clock, a statistic that showed the discipline for the Texans on that side of the floor.

With 8:20 to go, Tarleton took the lead back at 42-40 thanks to a tough Wilson put-back in the paint.  Furst added a three on the next possession to make it a 45-40 lead, their largest of the game.

After a media timeout, the Texans added another three and pushed it to an eight-point game with around six minutes to play.

Next was a run by the Buffs, who cut Tarleton's lead to two with 4:31 remaining, 48-46.  That started a minute of back-and-forth buckets where WTAMU's three was matched by the Tarleton's three, and so on.

Coming out of the last media timeout of the game, the Texans and Buffs were once again tied, 51-51, in Canyon.

WTAMU took a 55-51 lead as the contest neared two minutes to go.  Tarleton had a couple of chances to chip away at that margin over the next minute and a half, but their opportunities just did not go their way. 

In the end, the Buffs outlasted the Texans, 62-53.

Tarleton shot 41.7 percent on the night and 37.5 percent from three-point range.  The Texans fell despite committing just nine turnovers in the game.

WTAMU shot 41.3 percent from the floor, but out-rebounded Tarleton 36-25.

Wilson and Furst both led the way with 14 points, while Harrell added 11 points.  Wilson also grabbed a team-high five boards.  Shedrick Haynes added five assists.

Kennon Washington was the biggest threat in the first meeting and dropped 22 points in the most recent showdown.  His free throws down the stretch hurt the Texans' chances.

Tarleton out-scored the Buffs in the paint and off turnovers, but were 12 points shy of WTAMU on bench scoring.

"It has been a tough week for us," said Reisman.  "We went to triple-overtime on Monday, had to come back from 19 down on Wednesday and now tonight.  We don't want to make excuses though.  We have to go home, re-charge our batteries and get ready for two games next week."

With the loss, Tarleton drops to 22-4 on the season and 13-3 in conference play.  It is their first week with two losses this season.

Tarleton remains on the road next as the Texans head to San Angelo to meet the Rams at 7:30 p.m. next Wednesday.

For more information regarding the 2011-12 Tarleton Texan basketball team, check out TarletonSports.com.