FRISCO – Tarleton’s comeback attempt against top-seeded West Texas A&M came up short in the final minutes as the Texans were eliminated from the Lone Star Conference tournament with an 83-74 semifinal loss on Saturday at the Comerica Center.
The Texans end their season with a 21-10 record under first-year head coach Chris Reisman.
Randall Broddie scored a team-high 24 points while Sam Marshall posted a career-high 17 points and seven rebounds.
West Texas A&M, the nation’s No. 4-ranked team, connected on 16 3-pointers – one shy of the LSC tournament record – to pull away from the Texans. Qua Grant scored a game-high 26 points for the Buffs, who improve to 30-3.
The Texans held their own against the Buffs early on in the first half that featured four ties and three lead changes. The Texans held a 24-23 lead with 5:05 left in the half on a jumper from Broddie, but the Buffs’ next five baskets were 3-pointers to take a 38-27 lead at the break.
WT’s lead grew to 15 in the first five minutes of the second half, the largest lead of the game. The Texans were hoping for another double-digit second-half comeback like they had in the LSC quarterfinal win over Eastern New Mexico where they were down by 12.
Trailing by 12 with seven minutes left, the Texans went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to just five. The Texans and Buffs traded buckets over the next two minutes to keep the game within five but the Buffs made their final five shots, including going 6-of-6 at the free-throw line down the stretch to close the game out.
Seniors Jesse Hill and Brandon Goldsmith each had eight points in their final game with the Texans. Hill had six rebounds and a block while Goldsmith grabbed five rebounds with a steal.
Isaiah Boling had seven points off the bench while Richie Mitchell had five points and seven rebounds. Dexter Johnson posted three points and Clashon Gaffney had two.
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