SAN ANGELO – It's long been said that sporting events are games of inches.
 
Wednesday night's Lone Star Conference showdown between perennial league contenders, Tarleton and Angelo State, proved such a saying to be true as mere inches were the difference between a thrilling defeat and a heartbreaking loss.
                                                                                             
Tarleton suffered the loss Wednesday night in double overtime as three scoring attempts refused to go down, sending the Texans to an 87-86 loss at the hands of the No. 20 Rams in the Junell Center.
 
Trailing 85-83 and without the services of starters Malcolm Hamilton, Charles Hill, and Romond Jenkins – who all fouled out of the game – Tarleton's Nosa Ebomwonyi stepped off the bench and hit a big-time shot. The sophomore from Pflugerville drained a 3-pointer to put Tarleton on top 86-85 with 1:27 left in the second overtime.
 
After a go-ahead jumper from Angelo State made it 87-86, Tarleton's Michael Hardge got a look from downtown with 34 seconds. That shot led to two offensive rebounds and two put-back attempts from Hardge and E.J. Reed, both of which rimmed out by inches and ended the double-overtime marathon. Hardge finished the game with 14 points, eight assists, and six rebounds in the effort.
 
This coming after a first overtime period that also saw the inches haunt the Texans.
 
Tarleton, who jumped out to a quick 77-72 lead in the first overtime period after regulation ended in a 68-68 tie, opened the extra frame with a jumper from Hardge and then got seven consecutive points from Reed to build the seven-point cushion in overtime. Reed finished the regulation with 19 points and then added nine more in the final two overtimes en route to a career-high 28-point scoring performance.
 
After the Rams pulled back within one on a jumper and four free throws, Tarleton's Xavier Smith stepped up to the charity stripe and knocked down a pair to put the Texans up by three.
 
But the inches would strike again.
 
Angelo State drained a 3-pointer on a fade-away 3-pointer from the corner, on a questionable call with the shooter hugging the out-of-bounds line. After a lengthy delay, the shot would stand and send the Texans into the second overtime period without their three starters. All of this coming after 40 minutes of regulation, in which Tarleton led by as many as 16 in the second half.
 
The loss is Tarleton's second straight, ending a string of 104 consecutive games without back-to-back losses. The last two-game losing skid for the Texans came on Jan. 12-16, 2013.
 
Behind Reed and Hardge, Hamilton and Hill were the team's leading scorers with 12 points each. Smith (6), Riddick (6), Ebomwonyi (3), and Jenkins (5) were the only other scorers for Tarleton.
 
The Texans (16-7, 5-5 LSC) will look to snap its skid Saturday night when they host Texas A&M-Kingsville (10-11, 2-8 LSC) at 7 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.