By BRAD KEITH
TheFlashToday.com
DENTON (March 2, 2018) — Basketball is a game of runs, and if you can’t piece together a big, long run, several short ones will do the trick.
No. 3 seed Tarleton State (20-10) used a 10-2 first-half run to take the lead for good, and took control with a 7-0 push and a couple 6-0 spurts in the second half, cruising on to a 63-49 win to eliminate Cameron (11-17) in the opning round of the Lone Star Conference Men’s Baketball Championship Friday at Kitty Magee Arena on the campus of Texas Woman’s University.
The location of the game had to be changed due to a leak in the roof of Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco that delayed the women’s quarterfinals from being completed until later Friday. But the location didn’t matter to Lonn Reisman, the 30-year Tarleton leader who preaches that defense, rebounding and more don’t change with venues but with effort.
The defensive effort of the Texans was valient to say the least Friday in holding Cameron to just 26 percent shooting. The Aggies were just 16-62 and were an especially pitiful 3-24 from 3, only 13 percent.
Tarleton didn’t exactly light it up at 39 percent overall and 27 percent from 3, but the Texans had the top scorer in Corinthian Ramsey iwth 20 points, followed by Deshawn Riddick with 12 and Preston Enloe 11 on 3-5 shooting from the arc. The rest of the team was just 4-21.
Enloe hit two big 3-pointers to get the offense started after the Texans scored just eight points the first 10 minutes. They were pivotal to the 10-2 run that gave Tarleton the lead the for good.
“I just try to get to the right spots and trust that my teammates will find me,” said Enloe following his sixth double-digit game as a true freshman after being named a 6A district MVP at Hebron – about 30 minutes south of here making it as close to a homecoming game as he will get – this time last year. “I have to hit the big shots when they get the ball to me, they trust me to do that.”
And he did. Besides igniting the first half run, he was part of both 6-0 second-half runs, finally pushing the Tarleton lead to as much as 13 with a left corner triple off a pretty drive and kick by Riddick.
“That gave us some breathing room, which was big, because we were having a hard time hitting shots and stetching the lead out. It was good to finally stretch it out there.”
Josh Hawley left his jumper in Frisco, or at least that’s where Tarleton hopes he left it since the Texans play No. 2 seed UT-Permian Basin or No. 7 seed Midwestern State at Dr Pepper Arena at 6 p.m. Saturday. But while Hawley strugled to just 2-99 shootting incluidng 0-4 from the arc, his superb effort showed in his collection of 16 rebounds, key as he had 13 on the defenseive end to limit the cold-shooting Aggies to just one shot attempt on most possessions, especially the last 30 minutes after they too often earned second and third opportunitities in the opening 10 minutes.
Jaraan Lands made a big impact despite playing just 20 minutes. He fouled out with almost four minutes remaining but had eight points and seven boards, including a nifty stride across the paint and reverse layup over a defender after Cameron had trimmed its 13-point margin to seven.
Lands was relegated to the bench shortly after his nifty step through, but Ramsey hit another big 3 and while the Texans missed free throws they made enough to lead by as many as 16. In all they were 20-31 from the stripe, where Cameron was 14-23.
Cameron guard Tyus Momoh scored 11 and had six rebounds. JV Long scored nine of the Aggies, whose season is complete following the loss. Tarleton, ranked ninth in the region, is two wins shy of guaranteeing itself a ninth straight South Central Region Championship appearance. The Texans may very well need the automatic bid that accompanies the championship of the LSC tournament, which they last won in 2014. Tarleton entered the week No. 9 in the regional rankings, placing the Texans square on the bubble with the NCAA Division II selection show looming Sunday evening after conference tournaements are complete.
Completing play on time was the purpose behind the move to Magee Arena, a spacious facility featuring elite sound system and adequate system. And yes, even though it is home to Texas Woman’s, the court was already marekd for men’s play, complete with the bigger no-charge circle under the bucket and deeper 3-point line for men’s games.
Tarleton associate athletic direcor for facilities Troy Jones has helped set up for the LSC tournament since it first went to a neutral location in Bartlesville, Oklahoma in the early 2000s. He said Saturday the gym needed no preparation, the only obstacle – and a minor one – was finding workers to staff the facility.
Like the defnese and rebounding edge – 47-40 – Tarleton used to eliminate Cameron, all that took was effort.
Meanwhile, women’s games resumed at Dr Pepper Arena after a crew corrected the issue with the ceiling that resulted in water raining in on one end of the court between the baseline and free throw line Friday, halting the second contest at halftime. The final 2 and 1/2 games appear to be on schedule as of the time of this writing.
Semifinals move forward as planned on Saturday, women at noon and 2:30 p.m., followed by men at 6 – Tarleton vs. UTPB or MSU – and 8:30 p.m. The finals at Dr Pepper Arena are on Sunday, women at 1 p.m. and men at 3:30.
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