STEPHENVILLE – No. 12 Tarleton State got double-double efforts from Mo Lee and Davene Carter to knock off Lubbock Christian 65-61 in the final game of the Texan Tip-Off Classic presented by Whataburger Saturday night.
 
After Tarleton struck first on a tip-in from Carter, the Texans fell in an early deficit as Lubbock Christian answered with a 13-6 run to lead 13-8 after the first six meetings.
 
Carter ended the run with another layup off an assist from Michael Hardge to start an 11-1 Tarleton run capped off with a 3-ball by Hardge for a 19-14 lead at the 7:43 mark in the opening half. The Texans never led by more than five over the rest of the first half and went into halftime with a 26-22 edge.
 
At the break, Tarleton and Lubbock Christian were even in paint points at 4-4 and were being outscored 7-0 in points off turnovers.
 
Tarleton turned up the pressure in the second half by scoring 30 points in the first 15:35 of the new half to build a commanding 56-42 lead. However, turnovers hurt the Texans down the stretch as Tarleton turned it over four times in the final four minutes as LCU pulled within four.
 
Over that final four minutes, however, Tarleton was 9-12 at the free throw line to secure the win and improve to 21-1 all-time in the Tip-Off Classic and 2-0 on the season.
 
Tarleton finished the game with just 12 paint points but did outrebound LCU 40-28, including 12-10 on the offensive end. The Texans shot 36-percent from the field and the 3-point line and 78-percent from the charity stripe.
 
Lee led the team with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Carter added 12 points and 11 boards. Hardge scored 10 points while TaShawn Mabry added nine off the bench. Nosa Ebomwonyi (6), Teven Jones (4), EJ Reed (4) and Jakob Damstra (2) rounded out the scoring for Tarleton.

Lee was named the MVP of the Classic while Mabry and Carter earned all-tournament team.
 
Tarleton State will be back in action at Wisdom Gym next weekend when they host Dallas Christian at 7 p.m. on the back end of a doubleheader.