FRISCO – Tarleton's season came to an end with an 86-79 loss to No. 2 Augustana in the Elite Eight at Dr Pepper Arena.

The Texans finished 24-9 on the season while making the school's fourth Elite Eight appearance -- a Lone Star Conference record.

Augustana (32-2) reached this point of the season with its lights-out 3-point shooting, but it was Tarleton who was connecting on shots from behind the arc throughout the game.

Tarleton's first three field goals of the game were 3-pointers, with a pair coming from Chantz Chambers and Malcolm Hamilton. Chambers connected on another three to tie the score up at 17 with 11:47 left in the half and a Romond Jenkins' tip-in on the ensuing possession would give the Texans the lead that they would hold for the rest of the first half. Chambers scored 11 of his career-high 16 points in the first half.

Leading 29-27 with 3:23 to go in the half, EJ Reed scored five straight points followed by a 3-pointer from Nosa Ebomwonyi to send the Texans to the locker room with a 37-29 lead.
Tarleton would build a double-digit lead in the second half when Reed drilled a three at the top of the key for a 48-38 advantage with 15:56 to go. Augustana, even without All-American forward Daniel Jansen, would follow with an 8-0 run to cut into Tarleton's lead.

The Texans pushed its lead back to seven on a 3-pointer from Hamilton, but Reed would pick up his fourth foul moments later and Tarleton would have to go to its bench. Foul trouble in the second half ended up haunting the Texans' dreams of advancing.

Both of Tarleton's starting big men, Reed and Jenkins, would foul out in the game, while Tarleton committed 28 fouls in the game. Augustana, who shot 42 free throws in the game and 31 in the second half, avoided foul trouble with only 16 team fouls. Tarleton went to the line 19 times, making 11. Reed, a First-Team All-Region forward, finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Jenkins added eight points and seven rebounds.

When the Texans needed a boost, senior guard Michael Hardge came calling. Hardge scored 23 of his career-high 26 points in the second half, including 13 of the team's final 16 points. Hardge joined elite company in the process, surpassing 1,000 career points – 1,006 for his career – to help keep Tarleton close down the stretch. Hardge also dished out seven assists to finish with 345 in his career, ranking fourth all-time.

Augustana would close the game on a 16-9 run in the final five minutes after the score was knotted up at 70.

Tarleton knocked down a season-high 16 3-pointers and shot 41 percent from the floor in the game.

Hamilton, a senior guard, scored seven points and pulled down six rebounds. Jakob Damstra, a four-year letterman for the Texans, grabbed four rebounds and blocked a shot and played tremendous defense for Tarleton throughout the game.