LAWTON, Okla. – Toughness was on display Saturday night by No. 10 Tarleton State as the Texans (14-2, 2-2) survived a physical battle to hold on to a 77-74 victory against Cameron (9-7, 1-3) at Aggie Gym.
 
Trailing 57-59 with 5:46 left in the game, Mabry drilled a contested 3-pointer to put the Texans on top 60-59 and start a 9-0 Tarleton surge. Over that span, the Texans got points from Mabry, Mo Lee, Reed and a second-chance dunk from Damion Clemons to cap off the run. Tarleton also forced two Cameron turnovers on three of the Aggie possession during that run.
 
The Texans extended the lead to seven and carried that seven-point advantage down to the final two minutes before Cameron went on a 7-2 run to cut the Tarleton lead to 73-71 with just over one minute to go. The Aggies had a chance to tie it but could only convert one of two free throws to keep Tarleton on top 73-72 with 45 seconds left.
 
Malcolm Hamilton was fouled on the ensuing Tarleton possession and hit both of his free throws to push the lead back to 75-72 with 19 seconds to go. After Cameron went to the line and hit a pair on its next possession, Hamilton stretched the lead to 77-74 with two more free throws of his own.
 
Cameron got one final look but Davene Carter pulled down the final rebound at the buzzer to secure the win.
 
The physicality was on display early as the teams combined for just six points over the first four minutes of the game, which Cameron led 4-2 before Nosa Ebomwonyi drilled his first 3-ball of the afternoon to give the Texans an early advantage.
 
It took over a minute for another point to be scored, but Cameron retook the lead on a jumper at 14:40. The Aggies would stretch the lead to four and hold it over the next four minutes before Ebomwonyi turned the tide.
 
The freshman from Pflugerville drilled another 3-pointer and then connected on a pair of shots from the charity stripe that put Tarleton back on top. Ebomwonyi's run gave Tarleton a lead they would extend to as many as six with 1:54 left in the opening half but Cameron fought back with seven unanswered points to send Tarleton into halftime down 28-29.
 
In the opening half, Tarleton shot just 33 percent while the Aggies were 42 percent from the floor. The Texans were also a perfect 8-8 at the charity stripe in the first 20 minutes.
 
Tarleton's front court came out of the second half on fire as TaShawn Mabry and EJ Reed accounted for the first 15 points of the second half for the Texans. Mabry scored nine points while Reed added six to bring the game to an even 43-43 with 11:13 left in the game.
 
The teams traded buckets and the lead several times over the next six minutes with neither team leading by more than one possession until the 3-ball from Mabry turned the tide for the Texans.
 
For the game, Tarleton shot 41 percent after going 11-22 in the second half from the floor. The Texans were 44 percent from downtown and 91 percent at the free throw line. The Texan defense stood tall, winning the battle on the boards 32-27 and holding the Aggies to 1-13 from beyond the arc.
 
Mabry led the Texans with 17 points while Reed scored 12 off the bench. Lee and Ebomwonyi also cracked double figures with 10 points each while Michael Hardge added nine. Clemons (7), Hamilton (6), Carter (2) and Jakob Damstra (4) rounded out the scoring for the Texans.
 
This physical battle between Cameron and Tarleton State totaled 58 combined personal fouls and four total players fouled out of the contest, including Mabry, Reed and Lee for Tarleton.
 
The Texans will return to Lone Star Conference action Wednesday night at Wisdom Gym when they host West Texas A&M at 7:30 p.m.