- Box Score

FORT WORTH – Tarleton State's reputation for defensive tenacity and resiliency made itself known to the nation Thursday night by battling back from a 21-point first-half deficit to push Big 12-member TCU to the brink in a 69-61 exhibition loss.
 
"We're still working to improve our team chemistry, but we hit some big shots down the stretch and played great defense on the other side," said head coach Lonn Reisman. "But with that said, we came here to win and there is no such thing as a moral victory to me. We did some things well and some things not so well but we'll get back home and go back to work."
 
After falling behind 34-13 with 4:22 left in the opening half, Mo Lee got the Tarleton comeback started with a three-pointer off a pass from Deshawn Riddick that started a 10-6 Texan push over the remainder of the half to head into the break trailing 26-40.
 
Out of the break, Malcolm Hamilton opened the new half with a 3-ball of his own to start another 10-6 Texan push to bring the Tarleton deficit to 10. From there, Tarleton got seven unanswered on back-to-back layups from TaShawn Mabry and Lee before three free throws from Mabry made it a one-possession game at 46-43 with 11:47 left.
 
After Tarleton cut it to two, TCU struck right back with seven unanswered points for a 54-45 lead.
 
No. 12 Tarleton would not go away, however, as the Texans responded once again with a 9-2 run of their own on an EJ Reed layup, 3-pointers from Mabry and Teven Jones and a free throw by Lee to make it 56-54 with 3:46 left.
 
The Texans continued to battle but the Horned Frogs hit eight free throws down the stretch to pull away and take the win 67-61.
 
It was the Texan defense that kept the game tight despite a 28-percent shooting percentage from the floor and from beyond the arc. Tarleton State forced 19 turnovers and won the rebounding battle 38-32 with 20 of the 38 boards coming on the offensive end.
 
Mabry finished the game with a double-double performance of 23 points and 10 rebounds while Lee added 14 points – both off the bench. Jones had seven points in his Tarleton debut while Michael Hardge added five.
 
Davene Carter (4), Hamilton (3), Reed (3) and Damion Clemons (2) rounded out the scoring for the Texans.
 
The Texans were also welcomed to Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center by a tremendous showing from the Tarleton faithful, who were praised after the game by head coach Lonn Reisman.
 
"We had a crowd tonight that the TCU people couldn't believe," said Reisman. "Tarleton State University made us very proud tonight."
 
The Texans will return home next weekend to officially begin the 2014-15 campaign with the Texan Tip-Off Classic, beginning Friday at 7 p.m. against New Mexico Highlands in Wisdom Gym.