Pair of 20-point performances not enough as Texans fall to No. 16 Buffs

Advertisement

CANYON – Corinthian Ramsey and Josh Hawley combined for 46 points but their efforts weren’t enough to hold on to a first-half lead and the Texans fell to No. 16 West Texas A&M at the First United Bank Center Saturday afternoon.

Tarleton came out of the gates firing on all cylinders as Jesse Hill found Josh Hawley on the end of an alley-oop dunk to start the game. The dunk was the beginning of a 7-0 Tarleton lead over the first three minutes.

After WT hit the first of what would eventually be 17 three-pointers in the game, Tarleton struck back with six more unanswered to push things out to a 13-3 advantage with 14 minutes left in the opening half. The Texans continued to pour it on over the next 10 minutes by extending their lead out to a game-high 14 with 3:57 left to play.

Advertisement

Over the rest of the half, however, the Buffs answered with a 15-4 run to cut Tarleton’s lead down to three entering halftime.

Out of the break, Josh Hawley scored the first bucket of the new half and Jesse Hill followed with a pair of free throws to push the lead back to seven. WT would start a run over the final 17 minutes of the second half that outscored Tarleton 49-30. The Buffs did not miss on back-to-back shots from the 15:50 mark until the final two minutes of the game.

Turnovers proved to be pivotal in the game as Tarleton turned the ball over 19 times leading to 20 WT points while the Texans scored just two points off six West Texas miscues. The Buffs also made 17 shots from beyond the arc compared to just seven for Tarleton.

Ramsey led the team with 25 points, including 18 in the second half, while Josh Hawley recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Hill (8) and Isaiah Boling (7) combined for 15 points while Clashon Gaffney (6), Randall Broddie (2), and Richie Mitchell (2). As a team, Tarleton shot .538 from the floor, including .318 from downtown.

This is Tarleton’s second straight league loss on the road sending the Texans’ overall record to 13-5 and 3-4 in league play. The Texans will return home to Wisdom Gym for their first Lone Star Conference game in Stephenville in 2019 when Tarleton hosts UT Permian Basin Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

About debug 971 Articles
Debug user

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.