STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State Men's Basketball saw its lead slip away in the final minutes of the game to drop to Utah Tech, 80-72 on Saturday night at the EECU Center.
 
With the win, the Trailblazers (17-12, 10-5) move within a half of a game for the top spot in the WAC. The Texans (14-14 overall, 5-10 WAC)  are one of five WAC programs with five wins this season.
 
Jordan Mizell led the Texans in scoring for the second time this season, the first since Nov. 28 against Midwestern State. Mizell notched his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. He sent a new career high with 11 boards, his first time reaching double digits in his career. The sophomore shot a perfect six-for-six from the free throw line as well. He also tied for the team-lead with two assists and two steals.
 
Kaia Isaac scored in double figures for the fifth time this season. Isaac tied his season-best with four made triples on his eight attempts. Freddy Hicks also scored in double figures ending with 11. Hicks tallied eight rebounds and tied for the team lead with two assists and two steals.
 
The first half was a back-and-forth affair that saw eight lead changes and five ties. The Texas started the game with a 5-0 run thanks to a pair of free throws from Andy Sigiscar and a Kade Douglas triple in the first two and a half minutes. The Trailblazers took the lead for the first time on a three-pointer just over five minutes into the half. Kaia Isaac took the lead back for a Texans answering with a three of his own on the next Texan possession.
 
The Texans used a 7-2 run capped by another Douglas three-pointer to take their largest lead of the half, five, 23-18 with 7:25 to go in the half. The Trailblazers tied the game and took the lead with an 8-0 run. In the final three minutes of the half, the Purple and White used a 7-0 run punctuated with Isaac's second made three of the night to give the Texans a 32-29 advantage. Utah Tech tied the game on a three pointer with 25 ticks left to send the game into the half tied at 25.
 
Tarleton State took the lead out of the half and held the lead for the next 15 minutes of the contest. The Texans opened the half with the long ball sinking a pair of threes from Douglas and Isaac to jump out on a 6-0 run in the first 1:09. Isaac knocked down his second triple of the half and fourth of the night in the middle of a 10-0 Texan run that gave them their largest lead of the game, 13, 48-35, with 14:12 to go. Mizell contributed six of the ten points with the other four all coming from Isaac.
 
Utah Tech showed they weren't out of it yet dropping an 8-0 run of their own on back-to-back triples. The Texan lead rose back to 11 at the midpoint of the half after a dunk from Mpaka. The Trailblazers took their first lead of the second half on an 11-2 run claiming a 61-60 lead with six minutes left in the game. The Trailblazers didn't look back and ballooned their lead to 10 with 2:10 to go. The Texans shrank their deficit to no less than seven in the final minutes with the Trailblazers claiming their 10^th victory of the season, 80-72.
 
Tarleton State shot 42.6 percent from the floor making 26 of their 61 shots. The Texans made seven of their 22 shots from deep, a 31.8 percent rate. The Purple and White shot 86.7 percent from the charity stripe making 13 of their 15 shots. For the 14^th time in WAC play this season, the Texans won the turnover battle forcing 11 and committing seven. The Trailblazers won the battle of the boards, 37-29.
 
The Texans will hit the road for the final time of the regular season next week. Tarleton State will head to Orem for the first time this season with a Thursday night tip set for 7 pm CT. The Texans will wrap up the trip in Riverside with an 8 pm CT tip against CBU on Saturday.