STEPHENVILLE — Tarleton State Men’s basketball extended its longest winning streak in the Division I era to six straight with an 85-47 victory over the Sterling College Warriors on Tuesday night in Wisdom Gym.
The Texans (8-2, 2-0 WAC) are off to the program’s best start since the 2018-19 season after its win over Sterling College (8-4, 4-2 KCAC). Tarleton improves to 13-0 since becoming a Division I institution against non-D1 opponents.
KiAndre Gaddy notched his fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Jakorie Smith led the team in scoring for the fourth time this season and tenth time as a Texan with 17. He added a game-high four assists. Emmanuel Innocenti reached double-digits in scoring for the third time this season with 10. Innocenti and Lue Williams co-led the team with three steals apiece.
Bubu Benjamin and Traivar Jackson made contributions off the bench with six boards each. Jackson also collected a game-high three blocks. Benjamin added eight points to contribute to the Texans’ 35 bench points on the night.
Sterling came out of the gates hot, pushing the Texans to a 5-0 lead in the first minute of the game. The Texans would respond to tie the game at seven apiece after a Devon Barnes three-pointer. The Warriors would tie the game at 10 for the final time of the night.
Williams had two of the Texans six first half steals with both turning into buckets. His first granted Barnes a wide-open three-pointer. He took the second one to the rim himself for a scoop and score dunk.
Sterling cut the Texan lead to five with 7:17 remaining, but the Texans executed an 11-2 run to break it open, 34-22. The Texans ended the half on a 7-0 run in the final three minutes to take a 45-26 lead into the break, their biggest of the first half. Smith led the Purple and White with 13 points and three assists in the half. Gaddy grabbed nine boards in the half, his most all season.
The Texans started out the second half on a 6-0 run to add onto its half-ending, 7-0 burst. The Texans 13-0 run held the Warriors scoreless for 4:45 of game action. Gaddy notched his fourth double-double of the season grabbing his 10th rebound and scoring the first four points of the second half.
Tarleton held the Warriors to just 21 points in the second half. The Texans biggest lead of the night came in the final bucket to but the Texans up 38 with just 51 ticks to go.
The Purple and White shot 46.7 percent from the floor (35-for-75) to improve their record to 7-0 this season when shooting over 40 percent as a unit. The Texans won the battle of the boards, 45-39 as well as the turnover battle, 23-9. Tarleton scored 31 points off the Warriors’ turnovers, while only allowing five points off its own giveaways. The Texans scored 32 points via a fast break while not allowing Sterling to score on a fast break.
Tarleton State will close its two-game WAC x CUSA scheduling initiative with a home contest against Jacksonville State on Monday, December 18 at 7 p.m. in Wisdom Gym. The first 100 early-arriving fans will receive a free Tarleton branded purple Christmas ornament. In a special halftime performance, the nationally-known Zooperstars will be in Stephenville to take the court. Tarleton Athletics will be giving the town of Stephenville an early Christmas present by giving all fans free admission in the final Texan home event before the holidays and of the 2023 calendar year.
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