STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton reentered the win column on Tuesday behind a career-high 25 points by Noah McDavid and host of contributions from its cast of newcomers in an 84-65 home victory over Dallas Christian.
The win was Tarleton’s 12th straight over the Crusaders and snapped a four-game losing streak.
McDavid racked up 21 of his points in the first half to help the Texans (2-7) ease to a 46-36 halftime lead. The 6-5 freshman canned four straight 3-pointers over a four-minute stretch late in the first half that staked Tarleton to a 42-29 edge with 3:14 left before the horn.
The 25 points scored by McDavid were the most by a freshman in Tarleton’s Division I era and most since teammate Javontae Hopkins posted the same scoring figure vs. Texas A&M-Commerce on Dec. 21, 2019.
McDavid went 11-12 at the foul line to finish with the most free throws made in a single game this year.
The Texans deployed the entirety of their 16-man bench vs. the Crusaders, who compete in the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association. Of Tarleton’s 84 points scored, 60 came from its bench. None of the team’s five starters exceeded 30 minutes played. Tarleton is set to play its third game in four days on Wednesday when it hosts Southwestern Assemblies of God.
Overall, 10 players – nine of whom are in their first year with the program – notched season and/or career highs in points scored.
Jayshawn Moore was the second of two freshman to score in double figures. Moore, 6-6, tallied 11 points on 5-7 shooting to pair with five rebounds and one block.
Fellow freshman Cameron Jernigan scored all of his career-best seven points in the second half. He sunk a pair of free throws with 7:20 remaining to cap a 9-0 run that gave Tarleton its largest lead of the evening at 77-57. Jernigan also snagged a career-high five rebounds.
Kylon Owens (4 points) and Jahlen Jack (2 points) scored their first buckets in Purple and White while 6-8 forward Bryce Brown delivered a four-point, four-rebound effort in seven second-half minutes to round out Tarleton’s top offensive performances from its newcomers.
Seniors Tahj Small and Shakur Daniel were the Texans’ other pair of double-digit scorers with 12 points and 10 points, respectively. Small scored six of his points in the final 1:54, including a pair of free throws with 1:54 left to seal the final margin of victory. Daniel enjoyed his best all-around game in the 2021-22 season. The Canadien notched season highs in points, rebounds (seven) and assists (four) and led all players on the boards and in dimes.
Defensively, junior college transfer Jaheim Holden recorded six steals – the most in a single game by any player this season – in 13 minutes off the bench.
Tarleton finished with a season-high 54 rebounds and 13 steals and knocked down 23-28 free throws (82 percent). The Texans have shot above 80 percent at the charity stripe in five games this season and lead the Western Athletic Conference in free throw percentage at 77.4 percent.
Tarleton boatraced the Crusaders 103-48 in the teams’ most recent meeting on Nov. 25, 2020, to earn its first win as a Division I program. Dallas Christian kept the contest far more competitive this time around with Tarleton limiting minutes for a host of key contributors.
The Texans opened the game shooting 5-16 (31 percent) from the field and allowed the Crusaders to stay within four points at 11-7 near the 13-minute mark of the first half. Tarleton countered with an 8-3 run and led by as many as 13 points in the frame but Dallas Christian twice cut the Texans’ advantage to single digits. Dallas Christian later crept within six points of Tarleton at 50-44 less than three minutes into the second half before the Texans gradually wore down an undersized Crusaders squad behind a 23-8 extended scoring spurt over the ensuing 10 minutes.
Improved ball control enabled the Crusaders to keep the game manageable. Tarleton forced a then-school record 38 turnovers against Dallas Christian in 2020. On Tuesday, the Crusaders cut down their giveaways to 18.
Dallas Christian also shot 41 percent from the field compared to a 38 percent clip (29-72) for Tarleton.
Wednesday’s matchup with SAGU is set for a 7 p.m. tipoff. It will be the sixth-ever meeting between the two schools. Tarleton owns a 4-1 edge in the all-time series, though SAGU is the most recent victor, having defeated the Texans 73-60 on Nov. 12, 2012 inside Wisdom Gym. The Lions are 8-1 thus far and compete at the NAIA level in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
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