STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton's seniors combined for 58 points to lead the Texans past West Texas A&M 87-82 in front of a capacity crowd at Wisdom Gym Saturday on Senior Night.
 
The win moves Tarleton to an overall record of 19-7 overall and 8-5 in Lone Star Conference play, which moves the Texans into a four-way tie for second place in the league with one game to go. The win also comes with an impact on the regional rankings as Tarleton entered the game ranked No. 7 in the poll and the Buffs were No. 9.
 
Looking to avenge a loss to West Texas A&M last month, the teams battled back-and-forth early on as neither team built more than a five-point lead over the opening 15:33.
 
But a 3-pointer from senior Malcolm Hamilton turned the tide toward the Texans.
 
The Hamilton triple started an 11-4 run to give the Texans their first double-digit lead of the game at 34-24 with 1:43 left in the opening half. WT cut into the lead but the Texans went into halftime holding a 34-28 advantage.
 
Tarleton came out of the break on a mission, building its lead to 42-33 before a Michael Hardge layup started the most dominant run of the game. The Hardge layup was the beginning of a 30-14 run over the next nine minutes to build a commanding 72-47 lead with 6:20 to play.
 
Tarleton maintained a 20-point lead and carried into the final two minutes, leading 82-61 with 2:10 left. West Texas A&M went on a 21-4 run over the next two minutes, but the damage was already done as Hardge hit a free throw to ice the game with 11 seconds left and send the Texans to the 19^th win of the season.
 
In their final game at Wisdom Gym, Tarleton's seniors came up big – led by 21 points from Hardge on 6-11 shooting from the floor. EJ Reed avenged his last outing against the Buffs, in which he was held scoreless, by exploding for 17 points on 6-14 shooting to go along with six rebounds.
 
Romond Jenkins added a career-high 13 points to go along with a team high nine rebounds while Hamilton was the fourth Texan in double figures with 11. Charles Hill just missed double digits with nine points while dishing out a career-high five assists.
 
Xavier Smith (6), Deshawn Riddick (5), and Chantz Chambers (5) provided 16 points off the Tarleton bench to round out the scoring.
 
Tarleton will return to action next Saturday night in the regular season finale at Commerce at 6 p.m. in the Field House.