SAN ANTONIO – Tarleton men’s basketball bounced back in the win column with an 84-66 road win at St. Mary’s on Saturday at the Bill Greehey Arena.
The Texans improve to 12-8 overall and 8-6 in the Lone Star Conference with the victory.
The Texan big men powered the offense as Zach Naylor had a career game by pouring in a career-high 15 points to go with nine rebounds. Clashon Gaffney tied his career high with 17 points and six rebounds, while Josh Hawley added 14 points and a season-high 15 rebounds for his 37th career double-double, passing Dwyane Johnson for second in Tarleton history. Hawley needs seven double-doubles to pass Hall of Famer Danny Jones for the most in program history.
Down low, the Texan forwards helped the team out rebound St. Mary’s 44-25, including a 15-8 advantage on the offensive boards that led to a 23-6 scoring margin on second-chance points.
Offensively, the Texans dished out a season-high 19 assists as Devin Bethely set a career high with eight assists to go with 11 points and Randall Broddie was right behind with a career-best six assists and also added eight points.
Tarleton never trailed in the game, although the first half was closer than the final score. The Texans led by one with six minutes remaining in the opening half before a pair of 5-0 stretches on 3-pointers by Hawley and Isaiah Boling pushed the lead to a first-half high eight points. The Texans led 37-32 at the break.
In the second half, the Texans turned it to another gear as they opened up the frame on a 6-0 run behind dunks from Gaffney, Hawley and Randall Broddie to post its first double-digit lead of the game at 43-32. Tarleton added a 14-4 run to pull away from the Rattlers, as the lead never fell below 10 the rest of the game. The Texans led by as much as 24 on a two-hand slam from Gaffney in the final minutes. The Texans outscored the Rattlers 47-34 in the second half as they shot 67 percent in the half and 53 percent for the game.
The Texans had four players in double figures with Isaiah Range, Isaiah Boling and Dexter Johnson each scoring six points. San Antonio native Grey Parrish added one point in his return home.
Tarleton will return home to take on rival Midwestern State on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.
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