STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton men's basketball head coach Lonn Reisman won his 600^th career game with the No. 12-ranked Texans' 71-61 victory over Cameron in the Lone Star Conference opener.
 
Reisman becomes the sixth active Division II head coach and 16th all time to win 600 career games.
 
Tarleton (11-2, 1-0) surged back from an early 7-0 deficit with a 14-0 run while holding Cameron scoreless for seven minutes to take the lead.
 
Cameron (8-6, 1-1) led 17-16 before Tarleton would regain the lead on a two-handed dunk by Xavier Smith from Malcolm Hamilton for a 20-17 advantage.
 
The Texans held a slim 31-28 lead at the half, with 14 of the 31 points come from the free-throw line. As Tarleton has done throughout Reisman's 28 years of coaching the Purple and White, the Texans' defense locked down on the visiting Aggies and held Cameron to 34 percent shooting in the half and forced a dozen turnovers.
 
Charles Hill went on a 7-0 run of his own for Tarleton's first points of the second half and put the Texans on top 38-33 with 17:10 remaining. Hill scored 19 points  – 18 in the second half – on 7-of-11 shooting.
 
Senior Michael Hardge, who has been alongside Reisman for 90 wins, forced a Cameron turnover and finished with a layup and starting a 6-0 run for a 44-35 lead and forcing a Cameron timeout. Hardge scored 14 points with three assists and three steals.
 
Hardge drained a three-pointer from Deshawn Riddick for Tarleton's biggest lead at 54-34 with nine minutes left.
 
In a game that featured multiple runs by both teams, Cameron used its last run to take a 58-57 lead with 5:31 remaining.
 
Nosa Ebomwonyi drilled a three-pointer from the left wing right in front of Tarleton's bench to give the Texans the lead for good at 60-58.
 
The Texans closed the game on a 14-3 run including the game-sealing alley-oop dunk by Hill on a fast-break lob from Hardge.
 
EJ Reed matched Hill with a game-high 19 points and 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.
 
Malcolm Hamilton added eight rebounds and a game-high four assists. Xavier Smith made his first career start for the Texans and blocked a game-high three shots, giving the junior forward nine blocks in the last three games.
 
Riddick scored nine points off the bench and had two assists.  Romond Jenkins pulled down five rebounds in the win.
 
Tarleton shot 43 percent from the floor while holding Cameron to 37 percent shooting.
 
Tarleton will take on No. 6 Angelo State on Jan. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.