SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, California — Tarleton State knocked off Austin Peay, 66-59 in the semifinals of the SoCal Challenge Sand Division on Monday afternoon at JSerra Pavilion.
With the win, the Texans (3-2) advance to the title game of the SoCal Challenge Sand Division against Cal State-Bakersfield, who were 75-71 victors over Sacramento State in the first game of the day. Austin Peay (2-3) will round out its time in California in the third-place game against Sacramento State at noon local time on Wednesday.
The Texans are without their head coach
Billy Gillispie for the SoCal Challenge due to medical circumstances. Assistant coach
Joseph Jones is filling in for him. After the game Jones remarked, "Coach [Gillispie] told us to come out here and win, and we made sure we did everything that we could to hold up our end of the bargain. We just want to do whatever we can to lift his spirits. I know his loves basketball, he loves his team and he loves each and every one of us. Winning the game puts a big smile on his face, that is awesome for us."
Jakorie Smith posted his second 20-plus point effort posting a game-high 28 points. The senior made 11 buckets from the floor, with three from three-point range. He led the team with two steals and his seven rebounds tied
Kiandre Gaddy for the team lead.
Gaddy notched 13 points to be one of three Texans to score in double-figures.
Lue Williams carried the early hot hand knocking down three first half threes. He finished the night with 15 points, and two steals in 39 minutes of action.
The Texans found out they would be without their head coach on Saturday night just before the team left for California. When asked about how the team felt traveling without their leader Williams responded, "We knew that end goal was still the same, we must go out and win no matter what. We are doing it for him[coach Gillispie],"
Emmanuel Innocenti's five points on the stat line wasn't his only impact, playing 35 minutes of solid defense with a steal.
In a half of runs and hot hands, the Texans broke out to an 8-2 lead in the first three minutes of action, with six of them coming from behind the arc out of the hands of
Lue Williams. The Governors cut the deficit to 12-8 with 15 to go before embarking on a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the contest, 18-12.
Smith scored his first points at the midpoint of the half with a layup to end the APU run. Smith scored eight to lead the Texans to a 13-0 run reclaiming the lead, 32-25. Smith found his groove from three-point range as well knocking down his first two of the game while Williams converted his third of the half during the run. The Governors tied the game and took the lead scoring the next 10 points leading Tarleton, 35-32 with 1:26 to play. In the final 90 seconds, Smith made his third three of the half and added a lay-up in the final minute to give Tarleton State the 37-35 lead at the half.
Tarleton started out the second half where they left off opening on a 13-5 run to start the first nine minutes of the second half. The Texans spread out the scoring on the run with four different Texans contributing.
The Governors battled back cutting the Texan lead to five, with less than five minutes remaining. But, the Texans would not let APU get any closer than that as Smith responded with a layup followed by a Gaddy basket-and-one to put the game out of reach for the Governors. The largest lead of the game came after Smith made a pair of free throws at the 2:02 mark to put the Texans ahead, 66-54 after a 7-0 run. Austin Peay would score five points in the final minute, but it wasn't enough as Tarleton advanced to the title bout with a 66-59 victory.
The Texans won the turnover battle forcing 15 Governors' turnovers and turned the ball over a season-low 10 times. Tarleton shot 26-for-57 a 45.6 percent clip from the floor. The Purple and White held the Governors to shoot 42.6 percent from the floor. Tarleton lost the battle of the boards, 33-26, but won the battle in the paint outscoring APU, 32-24.
Tarleton State will take on the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners in the championship of the SoCal Challenge Sand Division at 4:30 p.m. CT at JSerra Pavilion on Wednesday. The title match will be streamed on FloSports and as always Kyle Crews will have the call on KTRL 90.5 FM.
