KINGSVILLE – Tarleton State got double-figure scoring efforts from four players as the No. 11 Texans extended their winning streak to nine straight with a 75-70 victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville at the Steinke Center Saturday night.
 
Michael Hardge got the Tarleton offense going right away with a straight-away 3-pointer from the top of the key on the first possession of the game to put the Texans up 3-0 quick. From there, Tarleton maintained a one-possession lead over the Javelinas over the opening eight minutes.
 
With 11:48 on the clock in the first half, Deshawn Riddick drilled jumper for Tarleton to turn the tide in favor of the Texans.
 
The Riddick jumper turned a 10-9 Tarleton lead into a 12-9 advantage and was the first of 10 unanswered points for the Texans, who extended the lead to 20-9 with 9:34 left in the opening half. The run included five from TaShawn Mabry, three from Hardge and the run-starting Riddick jumper.
 
Tarleton maintained at least a double-digit lead over the rest of the first half, never letting Kingsville closer than 10. The Texans pushed that lead to a first-half high 17 points right before the half when Damion Clemons converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to send Tarleton into halftime with a 37-20 lead.
 
Kingsville took advantage of favorable whistles to open the second half as Tarleton State was called for 12 fouls in the first eight minutes of the second half that helped the Javelinas cut the Texan lead to just eight at 47-39 with just under 12 minutes to play in the game.
 
With 10:30 left, Kingsville pulled within five before Mabry struck for the Texans with five straight points to push the lead back to double figures at 54-44. From there, Lee and Hardge went off with the next eight points to push the Tarleton advantage back to 16 with 6:56 left.
 
The Javelinas would push back, however, with nine straight points on three straight triple tries from 6:36 to 5:25 to pull back to 62-55. From there, Tarleton answered the call by getting to the charity stripe with five free throws and a layup to take a 69-59 lead into the final two minutes.
 
The Texans withstood an 11-6 run over the final two minutes by the Javelinas as Tarleton went 6-8 at the free throw line down the stretch and Damion Clemons, the reigning LSC Defensive Player of the Week, grabbed two defensive rebounds and blocked a shot to help Tarleton secure the 75-70 win.
 
Hardge and Mabry each poured in 16 points to lead the way for Tarleton while Mo Lee scored 14 and Clemons added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench. EJ Reed scored seven points while Malcolm Hamilton added five. Riddick (3), Nosa Ebomwonyi (2) and Davene Carter (2) rounded out the scoring.
 
Tarleton shot 48 percent from the floor, including 54 percent from downtown, and 70 percent from the charity stripe while holding the Javelinas to 37 percent from the field and 33 percent from downtown. The Texans also won the battle on the boards 37-33.
 
The Texans will look to push the winning streak to double figures Wednesday night when they head to the other side of the Lone Star State Wednesday night for a 7:30 p.m. game in Canyon against West Texas A&M.