Box Score LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Josh Hawley and Jesse Hill each established career highs in scoring and the Tarleton defense had its best performance of the season as the Texans grind out a 59-50 win over Le Moyne to open the Holiday Hoops Classic.
 
Tarleton (8-2) was efficient on both ends of the floor as the Texans shot a season-best 57.8 percent and the Texan defense held Le Moyne (6-4) to a season-low 34 percent shooting.
 
Hawley tied a career high with 24 points – which he scored last game against Arlington Baptist – on 11-15 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. Hill set a new personal best with 18 points on 9-11 shooting and pulled down four boards. The duo helped control the game down low as the Texans won the rebound battle 35 to 18 and also outscored Le Moyne 32 to 8 in the paint.
 
The Texans got off to a quick start against the Dolphins, who are from the Northeast-10 Conference, building a 12-4 lead through the first eight minutes of the game. Hawley and Hill combined for the next 10 Texan points for the first double-digit lead of the game at 22-12 with 5:26 left in the half.
 
Le Moyne stayed in the ballgame with the 3-point shot, as the Dolphins made 11 3's in the contest. Back-to-back 3-pointers brought the Dolphins to within two but Sam Marshall countered with a deep ball of his own for the final points of the half to put the Texans up 27-22. Marshall set a new career high in rebounds with six to go with five points in 29 minutes of action.
 
The Dolphins made six 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the second half to stay close to the Texans. The two teams were tied or within three points of each other for nine straight minutes before Hill's layup put the Texans up 50-46 with 5:02 to go. Hawley followed with his fourth dunk of the game and Hill added another layup for a 6-0 run to lead by eight. Corinthian Ramsey's 3-pointer and Hill's 12^th point of the second half put the finishing touches to the road win.
 
Ramsey scored six points and led the team with four assists. Isaiah Boling had three points, while Randall Broddie added two points and Richie Mitchell had one point to round out the scoring efforts. Mitchell also recorded a team-leading two steals to go with three assists.
 
The Texans will close out the Holiday Hoops Classic on Wednesday against Rollins at 2 p.m. CST.