STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State Men's Basketball dropped a heartbreaker, 73-70, to Southern Utah on Thursday night in Wisdom Gym.
 
In front of the loudest and rowdiest crowd of the season the Texans (12-7 overall, 5-3 WAC) were unable to complete the second half rally to hand the Thunderbirds (7-12, 2-6) its second WAC win of the season.
 
Devon Barnes exploded in the second half to lead the team and set a new career high with 22 points, all of which came in the latter 20 minutes. The sophomore transfer added four boards, three assists and a steal.
 
KiAndre Gaddy made himself known in the paint shooting eight-for-nine from the floor for 19 points. Gaddy, sixth in the nation in offensive boards, pulled down six on the offensive side and eight total. Jakorie Smith started out hot scoring all 15 of his point in the first 20 minutes of play, he added five boards.
 
Barnes led the Texans down the stretch coming in clutch in the final minutes of the game. Trailing by ten for the majority of the first ten minutes of the second session, the Texans started making their comeback for the second straight game.
 
Trailing 56-47, four consecutive points by Traivar Jackson and a pair of Barnes' made free throws cut the Texan deficit to three with 8:05 to go. The Thunderbirds responded with a bucket on the following possession to increase their lead to five, but another pair of Barnes free throws and a Jackson made layup cut the Texans deficit to one for the first time in the half with 6:49 remaining.
 
The two teams battled for the next six minutes when a Barnes layup pitted the Texans down by one, 68-67 with just over a minute remaining. The Texans committed a foul sending Dominque Ford to the line where he made a pair to bring the lead back to three. After Barnes split a pair at the line, Ford split a pair to leave SUU up 71-68 with 26 ticks on the clock.
 
Emmanuel Innocenti drove the lane with 10 seconds remaining to cut the lead to one. The Thunderbirds made a pair at the line to go up three with 10 remaining. The inbound was dished to Gaddy before Barnes brought the ball up the floor with time running out. Innocenti drove the lane before dishing it out to the top of the key for Smith but his heave came up short giving Southern Utah the 73-70 victory.
 
The Texans were a two man show in the first half. After digging themselves into a 5-0 hole, Smith was responsible for 11 of the Texans first 13. Smith led Tarleton with 15 in the first half. Gaddy contributed a 10-spot scoring the last six points of the half for the home team.
 
The Thunderbirds led the Texans 32-27 only allowing the Purple and White to lead for 2:41 of game time. Smith and Gaddy combined for 25 of the Texans 27. The duo combined to shoot 10-for-14 from the floor while the rest of the squad shot one-for-19. Williams contributed the other lone bucket of the half.
 
Jamari Sibley led the Thunderbirds with 14 in the first 20 minutes. Sibley shot six-for-seven from the floor including a perfect two-for-two from deep.
 
The Texans dominated the glass, 40-27, but dropped the turnover battle, 15-10. Tarleton shot 27-for-64 from the floor and 3-20 from deep. The Purple and White excelled at the charity stripe tonight shooting 13-for-16. Southern Utah shot 51 percent from the floor (25-for-49) and five-for-15 from behind the arc.
 
Tarleton will close out the weekend on Saturday hosting Utah Tech. Saturday will be the annual "White Out" with the first-arriving fans receiving a free "White Out Wisdom" t-shirt. Tip is slated for 4 p.m. at Wisdom Gym.