Box Score STEPHENVILLE, Texas – For the first time since becoming a senior college back in 1961, the Tarleton Texan basketball program has registered a school-record 18 straight wins after downing the A&M-Commerce Lions 84-71 in Lone Star Conference action before a sellout crowd Saturday night at Wisdom Gym.
 
The Texans, who are ranked No. 4 in the latest NABC Division II Poll, breaks the previous winning streak of 17 games that was originally set in 1990-91 and then recorded again in 2011-12. Tarleton also tied the school's third longest home winning streak in the process, stretching that mark to 20 consecutive wins inside Wisdom Gym.
 
Chuck Guy scored a game-high 16 points, while Davene Carter poured in 14 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Tashawn Mabry scored 14 points off the bench with a perfect 6-for-6 effort from the field that included going 2-for-2 from three-point land.
 
Tarleton opened the game with Carter pulling down one of his four first-half rebounds and tipping it in for the first two points of the game. The Texans then followed with three-pointers from Coleman Furst and Guy to push its lead to 8-2.
 
The home squad later went up by seven points on another three-pointer from Furst, but the Lions would come back and trade baskets with the Texans to pull within four points, down 15-11 at the 14:20 mark.
 
The Texans followed with a 7-1 run to make it a 22-11 game and then just one possession later, Mabry nailed his first trey from the top of the key and Tarleton would propel itself to a 16-4 run.
 
The Texans would lead by as many as 17 points on three separate occasions in the first half before taking a 45-33 lead into the locker room.
 
The Texans opened the second half with an 8-0 run and pushed its lead to 53-33 before A&M-Commerce's Cameron Blue stopped the Lion's scoring drought with a free throw at the 17:59 mark. Tarleton would later push its lead to 68-45 after back-to-back dunks from Carter and the Texans never looked back.
 
The Texans would go on to lead by as many as 26 points at the 9:47 mark, while the Lions never managed to get any closer than 19 points before the final 1:15 left to play. The Lions did manage to outscore the Texans 15-2 over the final three minutes before ending the game in the 13-point defeat.
 
The Texans have now scored at least 75 points or more in all 18 games this season, while the defense limited the Lions to nearly 18 points lower than its season average.
 
The Texans shot 47.8 percent from the field, while the Lions shot just 38.8 percent. A&M-Commerce won the free throw battle, 82.4 percent to Tarleton's 45.8 percent effort, but the Texans made up the difference with 13 more field goals than the visiting squad.
 
Tarleton won the rebounding margin 40-34, thanks to Jakob Damstra's career-high seven boards off the bench. The Texans tallied 16 offensive boards to A&M-Commerce's eight, on the way to scoring 19 second-chance points in the contest.
 
The Texans turned the ball over a season-low five times Saturday night and forced 10 Lion turnovers, which led to 12 offensive points.
 
Tarleton will look to extend its longest winning streak in school history to 19 games this Wednesday when the Midwestern State Mustangs come into town to visit. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. in Stephenville.