DALLAS – Tarleton men’s basketball’s win streak continues as the Texans topped No. 20 DBU on the road 77-72 for its sixth straight victory.
It’s the first win over a ranked opponent for the Texans since 2018 when they beat No. 12 UT Permian Basin in Stephenville. It’s also Tarleton’s first win at DBU in program history, as they previously lost games in 1990 and 2009. Tarleton improves to 11-7 overall and 7-5 in the LSC standings as they continue to climb the divisional standings as all the wins during the streak have been conference wins.
Josh Hawley posted a team-leading 15 points with 11 rebounds while Randall Broddie and Javontae Hopkins each added 14 points to lead the Texans offensively. Hawley’s double-double was his 11th of the season and 35th of his career, which ranks third in school history.
The Texans had to overcome a sharp-shooting Patriots team, who connected on 16 3-pointers, including 11 in the first half while Tarleton only made one 3-pointer in the first 20 minutes of play. Despite the advantage on 3’s, the Texans only trailed 39-35.
In the second half, Dexter Johnson helped the Texans regain the lead on a steal at midcourt and went coast-to-coast for a layup and a 48-46 advantage. Johnson, who’s from Duncanville and less than 10 miles from DBU, had a career-high four steals to go with four points off the bench.
Isaiah Range, a Cedar Hill native and also less than 10 miles from DBU, hit a game-tying three to even the score at 58-58 with 7 minutes to go. Range had 11 points on 4-6 shooting in front of his hometown crowd. However, Range’s three was the start of an 8-0 run by DBU to take its largest lead of the game at 66-58 with 5:50 to go.
That’s when senior Randall Broddie stepped up and drilled two straight three-pointers at the top of the key to tie the game then added a pair of free throws as he scored eight straight points to bring the Texans back. Broddie had 10 of his 14 points in the second half.
With less than three minutes on the clock, the Texans were able to pull away at the free throw line as Javontae Hopkins connected on a pair of free throws to put the Texans up 71-70 and they never trailed again. Hopkins scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half and made all eight of his free throw attempts. As a team, the Texans went 8-8 at the line in the final 1:50 of the game to clinch the win. They went 26-33 for the game.
Defensively, the Texans forced DBU into 17 turnovers and Clashon Gaffney blocked a career-high five shots – all in the first half. Gaffney also added eight points and five rebounds. Devin Bethely posted six points, with six rebounds and four assists while Zach Naylor contributed with five points off the bench.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Texans as they travel to Austin to take on No. 6 St. Edward’s on Thursday, Jan. 25.
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