STEPHENVILLE – Wednesday night's conference rivalry game came down to the final buzzer as the No. 10 Texans dropped a heartbreaker to Midwestern State 76-78 at Wisdom Gym.
 
Tarleton State came out on fire in front of a packed house at Wisdom Gym as Michael Hardge drilled a 3-ball to get things started before a jumper from Midwestern State and a pair of free throws from Hardge gave the Texans a 7-0 lead over the first 1:46.
 
Midwestern State answered right back, however, pulling within two on two different occasions before taking a lead at 18-17.
 
The teams jockeyed for position over the next two minutes before a 3-pointer from Nosa Ebomwonyi and a thundering slam from EJ Reed started a 10-0 run for the Texans. Damion Clemons capped off the run with a 3-pointer and a dunk off a pass from Malcolm Hamilton to put Tarleton up 31-23 with 6:57 left in the opening half.
 
The Texans were resilient and took a 41-39 lead into the break.
 
Midwestern State opened the second half on a 22-11 run over the first 9:34 of the half to take a 61-52 lead with 10:26 left in the game. They would hold the lead between six and nine points over the next five minutes to lead 69-60 with 5:04 left before the Texans made their late surge.
 
Hardge hit a pair of free throws to be quickly followed up with a 3-ball from TaShawn Mabry and a vicious slam from Hamilton to make it two-point game with four minutes left.
 
After Midwestern State extended the lead back to six before an old-fashioned three-point play from Hardge pulled Tarleton within three with 74-71. The Mustangs added two free throws before Mabry drilled a loud 3-pointer to bring the Wisdom fans to a roar and the score to 76-74.
 
The teams traded a bucket each but Tarleton couldn't overcome the deficit en route to the final score.
 
As a team, Tarleton State shot 46 percent from the floor and 40 percent from downtown while Midwestern State shot 47 percent from the floor and 38 percent from downtown. Tarleton lost the battle of the boards 36-28, including 23-14 in the second half.
 
Tarleton got four double-figure scoring efforts led by 15 from Mo Lee. Hardge and Mabry each poured in 14 while Hamilton scored 11 off the Tarleton bench. Davene Carter added eight while Reed (6), Clemons (5) and Ebomwonyi (3) rounded out the scoring.
 
The Texans will return to action Saturday afternoon when they travel to Lawton, Oklahoma for a 4 p.m. game against Cameron at Aggie Gym.