Texans lock up No. 5 seed in LSC Tournament with road win over UTPB

ODESSA – Tarleton went on the road to close out the regular season and did so in convincing fashion as the Josh Hawley-led Tarleton Texans defeated UT Permian Basin 81-69 to secure the No. 5 seed in the LSC Tournament and give head coach Chris Reisman his first 20-win season.

With the win, Tarleton is the No. 5 seed in next week’s Lone Star Conference Tournament and will open play against Eastern New Mexico Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. at the Comerica Center in Frisco.

After Tarleton got the scoring started, UT Permian Basin clawed back and led for most of the opening half. The Falcons took a one-point lead as late as 2:24 of the first half before a layup from Clashon Gaffney turned the game on its ear and put Tarleton on top.

The Gaffney bucket started a 6-2 Tarleton surge over the final two minutes and sent the Texans into the break with a three-point edge. The lead could have been six after Randall Broddie appeared to have beaten the buzzer, but the official ruling wiped away the three-point shot before the break and sent Tarleton into halftime leading 39-36.

UT Permian Basin came out swinging in the new half and built a five-point lead over the first six minutes of the new half.

But Josh Hawley, Jesse Hill and Randall Broddie decided that was enough.

Hawley, Hill and Broddie supplied all of the Tarleton scoring over the next six minutes as the Texans went on a 19-4 run to take a 10-point lead with just over eight minutes left in the game. Tarleton led the rest of the way, even by as many as 14 in the final minute.

Hawley scored a team-high 25 points on 8-14 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. The junior finishes the regular season as the only player in the league to average a double-double for the season (17.4 ppg; 10.1 rpg).

Tarleton had three other players crack double figures, led by Broddie with 16 points. Jesse Hill scored 12 while Clashon Gaffney provided 11 points off the bench. Richie Mitchell scored nine in the starting lineup while Sam Marshall (5) and Isaiah Boling (3) rounded out the scoring.