ALLEN – Tarleton's hopes of winning a fourth Lone Star Conference title came to an end as the Texans fell to Angelo State 81-73 in the tournament semifinals at the Allen Event Center.
Tarleton, the No. 4 team in the South Central region at 21-8, will wait for the NCAA selection show on Sunday, March 6 at 9:30 p.m. to determine its likely qualification and seeding for the NCAA tournament.
Tarleton and Angelo State have met 71 times prior to today's tournament game, but the LSC semifinals marked the first time the two teams squared off in the LSC tournament.
Romond Jenkins posted his second straight and second career double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds, both are career highs for the junior forward. Jenkins, who shot 8-of-9 from the floor, kept Tarleton close in the first half by scoring 12 points and pulling down 11 rebounds in the first twenty minutes of play.
Tarleton trailed 22-17 in the first half with six minutes remaining before going on a 7-0 that led to Angelo State taking a timeout when
Deshawn Riddick drained a 3-pointer at the top of the key. The teams would head to the locker room tied at 30. Tarleton shot 35 percent in the first half.
After shooting 34 percent in the first half, Angelo State came out and shot 66 percent from the floor to pull ahead of the Texans. Quay King drained a 3-pointer for Angelo State to give the Rams its largest at 61-48 with 9:26 to go. As quick as it seemed Tarleton's chances were slipping out of reach, shots began to fall in a hurry for Tarleton to climb back in the game. The Texans went on a 23-9 run and
Chantz Chambers,
Nosa Ebomwonyi, and
EJ Reed buried three straight 3-pointers to shift the momentum.
The Texans took their first lead of the second half at 71-70 with 3:24 to go but the Rams closed the game on an 11-2 run.
Reed only scored two points in the first half, but the senior forward would add 11 second-half points to finished with 13 points.
Michael Hardge and
Malcolm Hamilton topped double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Hardge added a team-high five assists and four rebounds. Chambers came off the bench to score 10 points.
