STEPHENVILLE -- No. 8 Tarleton defeated Texas-Permian Basin 74-58 to stretch its winning streak to four straight games on Monday at Wisdom Gym.
 
EJ Reed, the Lone Star Conference leader in points per game at 22.3, put up a team-high 17 points for the Texans, who improved to 8-1 on the season.
 
Tarleton and UTPB were tied at 7-7 through the first six minutes of the game when the Texans went on a 13-2 run over a nine-minute span to lead 20-9.
 
The Texans' defense limited UTPB to 24 first-half points, the third straight game Tarleton has held opponents to 25 points or less at the break. The Texans led 31-24 at half.
 
Charles Hill drilled a pull-up three-pointer to give the Texans a double-digit lead at 40-28 in the second half. Tarleton maintained a double-digit lead throughout the rest of the game. Tarleton came in with a scoring margin of 20.8 points per game.
 
Hill went on to score eight of the Texans' next 11 points and finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
 
Tarleton held UTPB to a season low in points, as the Falcons (5-3), who came in on a five-game winning streak, averaged 97.8 points per game. The Texans also limited the Falcons to 34 percent shooting, the fifth time this season the Texans have held opponents to under 40 percent shooting.
 
Malcolm Hamilton recorded his fourth straight double-double with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Hamilton also had three assists and two steals.
 
Romond Jenkins made his Tarleton debut tonight as the junior forward pulled down seven rebounds and scored his only two points on a fast-break alley-oop dunk on an off-the-glass pass from Hill.
 
Xavier Smith was the fourth Texan to score in double figures with 15 points. Smith, a 6-foot-8 forward stretched the floor and displayed his range by going 3-of-4 on three-pointers. Smith's final long ball gave the Texans its biggest lead of the game at 67-39 with 7:09 left in the game.
 
Michael Hardge was just shy of his second double-double of the season, as the senior guard scored nine points and had eight assists.
 
Chantz Chambers scored seven points on 3-of-3 shooting off the bench for Tarleton. The Texans outscored UTPB 24-2 off the bench.
 
The Texans, who improved to 6-0 all-time against UTPB, shot 52 percent from the floor, the fourth straight game that the Texans have topped 50 percent shooting.
 
With the win, head coach Lonn Reisman has 597 career wins at Tarleton.
 
The Texans will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada on Dec. 18-19 for a pair of games against No. 11 Rollins and Drury.