Box Score STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The Tarleton Texans clinched the No. 3 seed in the Lone Star Conference Championship Tournament, downing the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds 71-58 in LSC action Wednesday night at Wisdom Gym in Stephenville.
 
The Texans moved to 17-8 overall and 10-7 in the LSC, while ENMU falls to 11-14 overall and 8-9 in conference play.
 
The Texans trailed by as many as eight points with 7:15 left to play in the first half, but a 7-0 run pulled the home team within a point, down 1918 with less than five minutes remaining.
 
Tarleton later trailed 27-2 with 2:07 left on the clock, but De'Andre Upchurch's (G, Jr, Flint, Mich.) three-point-play with 24 seconds left capped off a 10-2 run to close out the half and the Texans took a 31-29 lead into the locker room at the break.
 
Tarleton shot 40.7 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes of play, which included going 4-for-10 from beyond the arc. The Texans were a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.
 
ENMU shot 45.8 percent from the field in the first half, but converted just 3-of-11 from three-point range and went just 4-for-9 from the free throw line.
 
The Texans out-rebounded the Greyhounds 18-13 in the first half and scored six second-chance points in the period as well.
 
Chuck Guy (G, Jr, Fort Worth) extended Tarleton's lead to four points with a couple of free throws to start off the second period, but ENMU's Rafael Love hit a three-pointer at the other end to pull the Greyhounds back within a point of the Texans, down 33-32.
 
ENMU got back to within a point of the home team, 35-34 with 16:02 left to play, but Tarleton followed with a 10-2 run to make it a 44-36 game with less than 13 minutes to play.
 
Tarleton's 53-46 lead with 7:37 left to play dwindled to just a three-point advantage until Jon Cathey-Macklin stopped the mini run from the Greyhounds with a free throw at the 5:30 mark making it a 54-50 game.
 
The Texans lead grew to as many as nine points at the 2:24 mark until Guy made it a 12-point game with his layup and conversion of a three-point-play at the free throw line. Tarleton led 68-56 with less than a minute to play and then closed out the game allowing ENMU to score just two more points.
 
With the win, the Texans clinched the No. 3 seed in the LSC Championship tournament and will play the No. 6 seed on Thursday, Mar. 7 at Allen Event Center in Allen. The No. 6 seed had still yet to be determined at the time of the release.
 
Guy tallied 21 points for the Texans, but ENMU's Rodney Blackmon scored a game-high 23 in a losing effort for the Greyhounds. It was Guy's seventh game scoring 20 points or more and his 11^th consecutive game scoring in double figures.
 
Cathey-Macklin pulled down a game-high nine rebounds for the Texans and was just a rebound and two points shy of recording his second double-double of the season. He had two blocks on the night as well.
 
Tarleton finished the game shooting 44.2 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from the arc and 73.1 percent from the charity stripe. After giving up 46 percent (12-26) to Greyhounds in three-pointers back on Jan. 16, the Texan defense allowed ENMU to shoot just 35 percent (7-20) from downtown on Wednesday.
 
The Texans controlled the ball well tonight as well, committing just eight turnovers in the game.
 
The Texans will close out the 2012-13 season this Saturday in Canyon taking on the West Texas A&M Buffaloes on the road. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside First United Bank Center on Saturday.