STEPHENVILLE – No. 2 Tarleton picked up right where it left off against Colorado-Colorado Springs last season as the Texans rolled the Mountain Lions 75-66 in the 12^th annual Texan Tip-Off Classic at Wisdom Gym Friday night.
 
"We played a very good team tonight," said head coach Lonn Reisman. "They returned three starters from a team that went to the second round of the NCAA tournament last year and we knew it was going to be a tough opener. We got a little more strung out in the second half than I would have liked, but our guys played hard and that's what I asked them to do tonight."
 
Colorado-Colorado Springs, who had its' season ended in Wisdom Gym last year in the second round of the South Central Regional Tournament at the hands of Tarleton, was the first opponent on the list for the No. 2-ranked Texans in Friday's season opener and Tarleton did not disappoint the home faithful.
 
The Mountain Lions scored five of the game's first seven points to take a 5-2 lead in the first four minutes, but a three-ball by Malcolm Hamilton off the Tarleton bench sparked the offense. Hamilton's triple started a nine-minute, 21-0 Tarleton run to give the Texans a commanding 23-7 lead with 6:54 left in the opening half.
 
UCCS pulled within 11 but Tarleton answered with a 9-1 run to extend the lead back to 32-13 with one minute left in the first half. The Mountain Lions scored four unanswered in the final minute and Tarleton took a 34-17 lead into the break.
 
In the opening half, Tarleton shot 52 percent from the floor and were led by a 10-point half from E.J. Reed. The senior from Mesquite was 5-6 from the floor with 10 points and six boards in 15 of the first 20 minutes. Michael Hardge added seven points and five assists in 19 of the season's opening half.
 
The second half, however, was a different story for both teams and it looked more like last year's intense, high-energy regional showdown from a year ago.
 
Tarleton opened the new half on a 13-10 push to extend the lead to 47-27 before the Mountain Lions answered with a 19-7 run to cut the Tarleton lead to single digits at 54-46 with 7:44 left in the game. The Texan lead stayed between eight and 12 until UCCS pulled within seven at the final minute.
 
After Hardge knocked down a pair of free throws to push the lead back to nine, head coach Lonn Reisman called for a timeout and told his team they needed one defensive stop and one rebound – they answered with two. Malcolm Hamilton hit a pair of free throws after the first stop and then threw down a vicious alley-oop dunk from Hardge for Tarleton's final points of the night. UCCS hit a desperation three-pointer on its last possession to bring the game to its final score.
 
Tarleton's Malcolm Hamilton and EJ Reed each went for 21 points in the game while Hardge added 13. The Texan trio combined for 55 of Tarleton's 75 points. Chantz Chambers scored six off the bench in his Tarleton debut while Charles Hill (4), Xavier Smith (4), Nosa Ebomwonyi (2), Deshawn Riddick (2), and Jakob Damstra (2) rounded out the scoring.
 
The Texans grabbed 36 total rebounds, led by nine from Reed, and dished out 12 assists, led by a team-high eight from Hardge.
 
Tarleton will return to action against Adams State, who dropped a nail-biter to Angelo State in the opening game of the Texan Tip-Off Classic Friday afternoon, Saturday night at 7 p.m.