Box Score LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Tarleton State's De'Andre Upchurch tied a career-high with 22 points and Chuck Guy poured in 15 points to help guide the No. 11-ranked Texans to its first 9-0 start under head coach Lonn Riesman with a 75-71 over Central Washington at South Point Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., on Saturday.
 
The Texans shot 41.7 percent from the field, 41.7 percent from downtown and 83.3 percent from the free throw line, while the Wildcats (4-5) managed to shoot just 35.7 percent from the arc and 73.3 percent from the charity stripe.
 
CWU did outshoot the Texans with a 44.6 percent effort from the field, but Tarleton out-rebounded the Wildcats 36-28 and outscored them 10-6 in second-chance points.
 
Neither team managed to score a bucket in the first 1:30-plus to open the game, but CWU finally put the first set of points on a pair of free throws from Joey Roppo with 18:16 on the clock. Tarleton then finally got on the board with a three-pointer from Coleman Furst at the 17:55 mark and Upchurch later followed it up with a three-pointer of his own to give the Texans a 6-2 advantage.
 
The Texans pushed its lead to 8-2 on a pair of free throws from Guy at the 16:40 mark before CWU's Marc Rogers nailed a jumper to make it an 8-4 game in favor of the Texans. Tarleton would then go on a 10-3 run and following a pair of free throws from Emmanuel Andrews at the 12:50 mark, Tarleton's lead grew to 18-7.
 
The Texans would later take a 21-10 lead on a three-pointer from Tashawn Mabry and then just a possession later, Mabry made it a 13-point lead when Mabry made both of his free throw attempts following a shooting foul.
 
CWU's J.B. Pillard poured in a lay-up with a little over 11 minutes left to play in the first half, which sparked a 20-6 run and CWU took its first lead at 30-29 with 2:21 left on the clock on a pair of free throws from Terry Dawn.
 
Mabry stopped the run with a pair of free throws and Upchurch nailed a three-pointer with 30 seconds left to put the Texans up 34-30. His three-point field goal was Tarleton's first field goal in a span of 10 minutes when Upchurch hit a three-pointer at the 10:30 mark.
 
CWU managed to get a late bucket with 1.2 seconds on the clock, but Tarleton was able to take a two-point lead into the break, up 34-32 at the half.
 
The Texans came out of the break on fire, scoring eight straight points thanks to a pair of three pointers and a lay-up from Upchuch and Tarleton led 42-32. CWU came right back with an 8-0 run themselves though, and cut the Tarleton lead to 42-40 with 14:30 left to play in the game.
 
Both teams traded buckets over the next few minutes until Michael Hardge came into the game off the bench and hit two three-pointers to go along with a pair of free throws, giving the Texans a 58-50 lead.
 
CWU again came back with a 9-1 run to make it a 60-59 game in favor of the Texans, but Upchurch hit a three-pointer and Guy sank a fade-away jumper at the 4:00 mark to make it a six-point lead.
 
The Wildcats later made it a 69-65 game on a jumper from Mark McLaughlin, but Guy went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe over the final 2:22. His sixth free throw sealed the victory, making it a 75-68 game with 9.8 seconds left to play.
 
The Wildcats managed to knock down a late three-pointer as time expired and the Texans were able to walk away with the four-point win, 75-71.
 
CWU's McLaughlin led all players with 24 points, but the Wildcats fell to 1-4 this season when he is held below his season average. McLaughlin came into the contest averaging 25.7 points per game.
 
The Texans have scored 75 points or more in all nine games this season and have out-rebounded its opposition in all but one of those contests.
 
Mabry poured in 11 points for the Texans off the bench and Damion Clemons pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Guy led the squad with five assists and Andrews tallied a team-high two steals on the afternoon.
 
The Texans will return to the court tomorrow against No. 5-ranked Western Washington to closeout the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic. The Texans and Vikings will tip-off from South Point Arena at 5 p.m. (CST) on Sunday.