Box Score DENVER, Colo. – The Tarleton Texan basketball season came to an end on Saturday, falling 76-65 to No. 3-ranked and No. 1-seeded Metro State in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional at Auaria Event Center in Denver, Colo.
 
The Texans (20-10) fell behind by as many as 20 points with 10:06 left to play in the game and then made a furious comeback to pull within seven points of the Roadrunners (28-2) with less than two minutes to  play in the game.
 
Chuck Guy, who scored a game and new career-high 29 points, hit a three-pointer at the 1:50 mark to make it a 66-59 game with 1:50 left to play. MSUD made just one of two free throws at the other end of the floor to go up by eight points, but Tarleton's three-point attempt with 1:16 left to play was no good and Tarleton was forced to foul down the stretch.
 
The Roadrunners missed both of its free throws with 1:09 left to play, but the home team picked up the offensive rebound and poured in a layup to go back up by 10 points. Mitch McCarron was fouled on the layup and his three-point play made it a 70-59 game with 1:11 to play.
 
The Texans would get it back to within nine points at the 55 second and 16 second marks, but just could never get the score any closer over the final minute of the ball game.
 
“We had some really good open looks from the arc, but a lot of the shots were just not falling,” said Tarleton head coach Lonn Reisman. “If that three-pointer goes down with less than a minute and a half to play, it's a five-point game and an entirely different ball game at that point.”
 
The Texans shot just 23.1 percent from the arc, going 6-for-26 from downtown on the evening. Guy had two three-pointers for the Texans and De'Andre Upchurch made three from beyond the arc as well.
 
MSUD opened the game with an 8-2 run before Upchurch closed the gap to just a three-point deficit on his first three-pointer of the game with 13:43 left to play in the first half. Davene Carter later made it a 12-9 game in favor of the Roadrunners with 11:27 left to play.
 
The Texans would go nearly four minutes without a field goal, but Brian Word's layup with 7:33 left to play sparked a 6-0 run for the Texans and Tarleton pulled to within two points of the host team, down 19-17 at the 6:25 mark.
 
The Roadrunners countered with a 7-0 run and an 8-0 run in between a layup from Guy and MSUD pushed its lead to 34-19 with a little over a minute and a half to play.
 
The Texans closed out the rest of the first half with a three-pointer from Coleman Furst and a free throw from Guy to head into the halftime break down 34-25.
 
“Tarleton State was not your typical No. 8 seed,” said Metro State head coach Derrick Clark. “They have a proud tradition over there and they played us hard the entire game. I think going up 6-0 early and then going on a run in the first half was the difference in the game.”
 
Upchurch scored 18 points for the Texans to go along with Guy's 29 points. Carter and Damion Clemons each led the team with seven rebounds on the night. Furst scored just six points on Saturday, but he dished out a career-high five assists. Guy and Brian Word led the squad with three steals each.
 
The Roadrunners had all five starters score in double figures and were led by Nicholas Kay's 19 points and eight rebounds. Jonathan Morse had eight rebounds and a game-high three blocked shots.
 
Tarleton's season comes to an end with the loss, but the Texans have a lot to look forward to next season having won 12 out of its last 16 games down the stretch and graduating just one senior.
 
“We played really well there late in the season,” said Furst. “We are a young team, but I know that the coaching staff is going to do a great job recruiting this offseason and bring in a couple of key pieces for this team. We will be better next season than we were this year.”