SAN ANTONIO ? Despite John Davis' fifth straight double-double of the season, the No. 9 Tarleton Texans fell for the third straight season on the road at St. Mary's, 73-69.

The Texans dropped to 8-2 on the season after being outrebounded 35-30, including a 13-5 total on offensive rebounds. Tarleton turned the ball over on 14 occasions, including three in the last 1:15.

“We did not play very well as a team tonight,” said Tarleton head coach Lonn Reisman. “This is still a very young team who has only played 10 games together. We have not been in this situation very much this season, and people do not have sympathy for us and will come at us. We are going to have step up and play better on the road.”

Tarleton also suffered the loss of starter Kenneth Cage in the first half of the opening period.

“When you take a starter out of your rotation, that changes your game plan,” Reisman said. “However, we jut didn't play very well tonight, and we lost a few of the battles we needed to win to be victorious tonight.”

Terrence Gamble put the Texans on the board first on a jumper in the paint 2:32 into the contest. Jeremy Gilbert had a bucket to stretch the lead to four on the Texans' next possession. Robert Owens then had a layup for the Rattlers to cut the lead in half. Gilbert then had two straight buckets for the Texans to make it 8-2 Tarleton with 15:41 remaining in the period.

Jarvis Lee got his first basket of the contest with a putback at 14:38, but Davis had two free throws and Tim Williams a layup to make it 12-4 Tarleton. Dominique Richardson had a bucket before a Jawan Bailey three-point play the hard way cut the deficit to two (12-10) with 12:47 on the clock.

Davis had a three for the Texans, but a Lee three and a Bailey bucket tied the game at 15 with 10:30 remaining in the first period. Terrence Gamble and Gilbert sandwiched a Roderick Bellard three to tie the game at 18 at the 9:36-mark thanks to a bucket and a free throw, respectively.

Bailey had a free throw for the home team before a Davis jumper from the paint put Tarleton ahead, 20-19. Latez Williams had a bucket to make it 21-20 before a Cage jumper at 6:58 made it 22-21. That would be the last lead for the Texans in the first half.

St. Mary's outscored Tarleton 17-8 in the last 6:30 of the first half to take a 38-30 halftime advantage. Scoring for the Texans was Mike Daniels, Williams and Davis (twice). The Rattlers hit seven of eight free throws in the run while Marcus Hill had two three pointers for the home team in the stretch.

Gamble got the second half going with a reverse layup to cut the lead to six before he hit a jumper from the left side of the floor to cut the lead to four. Owens and Rich Francis traded baskets before Williams had a layup to cut the score to 40-38 with 16:34 remaining in the period. Davis drove the floor from the right corner and layed the ball in to tie the game, but Richardson returned the favor on the opposite end.

With 15:22 on the clock, Gilbert went to the charity stripe to shoot two. The junior hit the first, but he missed the second. However, Davis got the rebound, and a Williams' jumper in the paint put the Texans on top, 43-42. Bailey and Davis traded points before Bailey went to the line and hit one of two free shots.

Gamble had a hook shot from the right side of the floor to put the Texans ahead by two (47-45) with 13:30 on the clock. The Rattlers then had four straight points to regain the advantage thanks to back-to-back Texan turnovers. SMU's Lee then hit a three to increase the run to 7-0 before Gamble had a bucket from the paint to cut the lead to 52-49.

The Texans got a defensive rebound and turned it into a Gilbert bucket to cut the advantage to one, but Richardson had a basket off the glass. Gamble then went to the line for the Texans at 10:30 to shoot two free shots. The junior missed the first, but hit the second to make it 54-52 St. Mary's.

Hill had two free throws for the Rattlers to return the lead to four, but Gamble did the same on Tarleton's end to cut the lead to two (56-54) with 10:04 on the clock. The two teams traded missed baskets before Effran Bryant was fouled with 8:57 on the clock. The true freshman hit both free shots to tie the game at 56.

Coleman had a basket for the Rattlers to break the tie before a Owens bucket from the middle of the lane increased the lead to four. Davis was then fouled with 7:03 on the clock. His layup was good, but he could not convert the old-fashioned three-point play, and Tarleton trailed by two. Joe Dinkins then had a three-point play the hard way with 6:18 on the clock to make it 63-58 SMU.

Thirteen seconds later, Williams was left wide open at the top of the key, and the junior hit the three to make it 63-61 Rattlers. Bailey had a bucket prior to Daniels hit both ends of a one-and-one at 5:19 to cut the lead to 65-63. Owens then went to the line for a two-shot foul, and the Rattler missed the first, but made the second.

Davis went to the line with 3;57 remaining in the contest to shoot a one-and-one bonus. The Texan senior hit both to pull the visitors within one, 66-65. Hill and Davis traded layups before Bailey hit a long jumper to make it 70-67 with just under three minutes left. Richardson tripped while dribbling, but Francis was called for the foul. The Rattler missed the front end of the one-and-one, and Tarleton got the rebound.

Owens had a turnaround jumper with 1:31 on the clock to make it a five-point lead (72-67). Tarleton's Gilbert then turned the ball over and Francis fouled to stop the clock at 1:07. Richardson missed the front end of the one-and-one, and Williams got the rebound. Daniels was sent to the line with 62 ticks remaining thanks to a Rattler foul. The junior guard cut the deficit to three (72-69) after converting both bonus shots.

A great defensive play by the Texans forced a SMU turnover, and Tarleton turned the ball over, too. Daniels fouled to stop the clock with 33.55 seconds remaining, and Coleman missed the bonus shot. Davis was fouled over the back, the ball was knocked out of bounds and no foul was called so the Rattlers retained possession.

Tarleton then forced another SMU turnover, but Gilbert threw the ball away with 20.95 seconds left. The Texans' Davis was forced to foul to stop the clock with 15.60 on the clock, and Hill hit the first, but missed the second. Davis then missed a quick basket, and the Rattlers got the rebound to seal the win, 73-69.

The Texans were led by Davis with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures for Tarleton was Gamble (15), Williams (11) and Gilbert (10).

Tarleton averaged .520 from the floor (26-50), .182 from the three-point arc (2-11) and .789 from the charity stripe (15-19).

St. Mary's was led by Hill with 15 points. Also tallying double digits was Bailey (13), Ownes (10) and Lee (10).

The Rattlers averaged .448 from the field (26-58), .545 from the arc (6-11) and .652 from the line (15-23).

Tarleton will return to action Thursday, Jan. 4 at home against Texas A&M-Commerce at 8 p.m.