Tarleton State University Athletics

STEPHENVILLE – No. 10 Tarleton opened the season with a bang, topping Adams State 89-59 in the Whataburger Tip-Off Classic at Wisdom Gym.
 
Ridell Camidge led all scorers with 16 points as four Texans scored at least 13 points in the dominating victory. The 30-point win is Tarleton's largest win in a season opener since the Texans defeated Southwestern Adventist by 64 in the 2013 opener. The Texans have won four straight openers and 15 of the last 16. It's also the ninth straight win for Tarleton in the Tip-Off Classic as the Texans improved to 24-1 in its home tournament.
 
The Texans jumped out to a double-digit lead at 25-15 with 7:20 to go in the first half and never let up. Tarleton held a double-digit lead for the final 27 minutes of the game. Chantz Chambers, who scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, set the tone for the remainder of the contest with a steal at midcourt and finishing the fast-break with a thunderous jam. Chambers recorded a career-high three steals on the night, too.
 
Tarleton's lead grew to 20 in the final seconds of the first half when Josh Hawley followed up his own miss with a one-handed slam to send the Texans to the locker room up 45-24. Hawley had four points, six rebounds and four assists. Tarleton shot 51 percent in the first half while holding Adams State to 30 percent from the floor and forced the Grizzlies into 15 turnovers that led to 21 Texan points.
 
Romond Jenkins, the reigning South Central region tournament MVP, scored six points in the first three minutes of the second half including a pair of alley-oop dunks to continue the rout. Jenkins finished with his fourth career double-double, totaling 15 points and 15 rebounds while connecting on 7 of 9 shot attempts.
 
Junior point guard Deshawn Riddick, who made his first career start, had a second-half stretch where he scored eight straight points for the Texans on his way to 13 points and dishing out four assists.
 
The Texans outscored the Grizzlies by 10 in the second half and finished the game shooting 51 percent from the floor. Tarleton dominated down low by outscoring Adams State 48-12 in the paint and grabbed 15 offensive rebounds to finish plus-8 in the rebounding column.
 
Anthony Davis added six points for the Texan offense, while Denzel Smith (5 points, 6 rebounds), Curtiss Anderson (5 points, 5 rebounds), Lance Ewell (5 points), Stephen Edwards (3 points, 3 assists) and Nosa Ebomwonyi rounded out the scoring for the Texans.
 
Tarleton will take on Colorado-Colorado Springs on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Wisdom Gym for the final game of the Whataburger Tip-Off Classic.