CANYON – No. 10 Tarleton fell on the road to West Texas A&M 78-61.
 
The loss moved Tarleton to 14-4 overall and 4-2 in the Lone Star Conference.
 
The Texans struggled shooting the ball, only connecting on 35 percent of their shots from the floor and 3-24 on 3-pointers (12 percent). West Texas A&M, however, was 8-13 from behind the arc and went 30-38 from the free-throw line compared to Tarleton's 10-16.
 
Tarleton's last lead came at 4-3 with 17 minutes left in the first half. Although WT led the rest of the way, Tarleton would stay within reach in the first half. Malcolm Hamilton's layup with 10:09 left in the half made it a 16-15 game. Hamilton finished with nine points and four rebounds off the bench.
 
WT went on an 11-3 run in the final two minutes of the half to put Tarleton down 35-27 at the break.
 
Charles Hill's jumper with 11:16 left in the game got Tarleton to within 46-44. But WT would take a double-digit lead behind the hot shooting of Jordan Evans, who scored 30 points on 7-8 shooting and 6-6 on 3-pointers. Evans scored 17 of his 30 in the second half.
 
Hill, like Evans, has had the hot shooting hand of late, coming into today's game having scored 47 points in the last two games. The senior guard finished with 16 points against West Texas A&M and pulled down four rebounds.
 
Michael Hardge was Tarleton's only other scorer to reach double digits, scoring 14 points with six rebounds and three assists. Romond Jenkins pulled down a team-high eight rebounds to go along with four points. Xavier Smith blocked four shots and had six rebounds. Off the bench, Deshawn Riddick scored six points while Chantz Chambers added five.
 
Tarleton will take on Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.