STEPHENVILLE – Bubu Benjamin’s 29-point effort helped lead Tarleton State Men’s Basketball to its second-straight home win with a 90-50 victory over the Dallas Christian Crusaders on Tuesday night in Wisdom Gym.
The Texans (3-7) secured their first victory in December this year. The Crusaders (0-8) played their third exhibition against a D1 school, with the loss not affecting their record. They will play one more D1 opponent, UTRGV, later this month.
Benjamin set a new career-high for the third time this season with a game-best 29 points. The sophomore added a game-best six assists while shooting 11-for-14 from the floor and four-for-six at the line.
Four Texans scored in double digits. Ronnie Harrison Jr. posted 13 points, his third-straight game in double figures. Izzy Miles posted double figures for the second-consecutive contest for the first time in his collegiate career with 10 points.
Chris Mpaka scored 11 points and tied with Harrison Jr. notching seven rebounds. Mpaka also tied his own season best with five blocks, the most by a Texans this year.
The Texans started off the game hot scoring the first nine points. Mpaka and Miles combined for the first four points, and a layup and triple in succession by Benjamin gave the Texans a 9-0 lead, forcing a Crusaders timeout.
Dallas Christian responded with a 5-2 run to cut the deficit to six, the lowest of the night before the Texans took the lead back to double figures where it stayed for the remainder of the contest.
Tarleton broke out to an 18-point lead with a 12-0 run to have a 23-5 advantage at the midpoint of the first half. Back-to-back triples by Nick Krass and Benjamin in the middle of a 15-0 run gave the Texans a 27-point lead.
Miles made four consecutive free throws after drawing a foul and a technical foul issued to the Crusader that committed the foul. After his four made shots, the Texans held a 48-15 advantage with three minutes remaining in the half. Tarleton maintained the t33-point lead in the closing minutes of the half, taking a 55-22 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Crusaders were only outscored by the Purple and White by seven, 35-28. The two squads traded buckets in the first few minutes of the half, before Tarleton broke out to its largest lead of the night. The Texans ran out on a 16-1 run across a five-minute period to own a commanding 75-27 advantage with 11:29 remaining.
In the final 10 minutes of the half, the Crusaders outscored the Texans, 23-15. Ultimately, the Texans won their third game of the season, 90-50.
For the third time this season, the Texans won the turnover battle forcing 29 turnovers while only committing 23. Tarleton shot a season-best .557 from the floor. The Purple and White won the battle of the boards, 38-21.
Tarleton State will hit the road for three-straight starting with UCF on Sunday, Dec. 8. Tip-off is slated for 12 p.m. CT at Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Fla.
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