STEPHENVILLE - Tarleton snapped its first two-game losing streak in over three years with a 76-63 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday at Wisdom Gym.

Tarleton went 104 straight games without consecutive losses because of their relentless defensive efforts. Tonight showed what the Texans can do on a nightly basis on the defensive end as they held the Javelinas to 30 percent shooting compared to Tarleton's 49 percent. Tarleton came in ranked sixth in the nation in opponents scoring at 64 points per game.

The Texans improved to 17-7 overall and 6-5 in the Lone Star Conference. In Tarleton's six LSC wins, they are holding opponents to 62.3 points per game opposed to 74.2 points in the five losses.

Tarleton jumped out to a 15-5 lead in the first five minutes of the game by attacking the basket with 12 of the first 15 points coming in the paint or at the free-throw line.

A layup by Michael Hardge and a fast-break dunk from Charles Hill helped Tarleton build a 29-12 lead and forced A&M-Kingsville (10-12, 2-9) to take a timeout. Hardge scored 12 points to go along with four assists and Hill added six points.

Nosa Ebomwonyi gave Tarleton a 20-point first-half lead with 3:53 to go on his second 3-point basket of the half. Ebomwonyi scored nine points and pulled down a season-high five rebounds. The Texans went into the locker room with a 41-26 lead while shooting 59 percent from the floor. The 26 points Tarleton held the Javelinas to was the lowest first-half total since the last time Tarleton played A&M-Kingsville nine games ago when they scored 18 on Jan. 9.

Tarleton came out in the second half and continued to work the ball in the paint. The Texans, who outscored A&M-Kingsville 38-26 in the paint, got a pair of quick buckets from Romond Jenkins down low for a 50-31 advantage. Jenkins narrowly missed his first-career double-double by matching his season high with 10 rebounds and nine points. The junior forward also blocked a pair of shots for the third time in four games.

Malcolm Hamilton was part of a 6-0 run with 11:23 remaining by converting on a pair of layups and dishing one of his four assists to Hill for an alley-oop dunk. Hamilton, who scored 12 points, is heating up again offensively having scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 14.

Leading 61-46, Tarleton would go to its leading scorer, EJ Reed, to put the game away. Reed scored seven of the next nine points for the Texans en route to a game-high 19 points. Reed also grabbed eight rebounds.

A&M-Kingsville worked the game back to a 10-point deficit, but Tarleton went 8-of-10 at the free-throw line in the final 2:41 to keep the Javelinas out of reach. Tarleton went 12-of-17 (72 percent) at the line for the game.
Tarleton got seven points off the bench from Deshawn Riddick and Xavier Smith matched a career high with four blocks, the fourth time he's reached that mark. Smith's 51 blocks this season, which ranks 13^th all time in a single season, are the most by a Tarleton player since Jon Cathey-Macklin blocked 53 in 2013.

The Texans will travel to Eastern New Mexico on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 8:30 p.m. CT.