Hounds blow 15-point lead

STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Senior forward John Davis scored 32 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Tarleton State rallied from a 15-point deficit to edge Eastern New Mexico University 77-72 in a Lone Star Conference South Division men’s game Saturday night.

In front of a crowd of nearly 3,000, Davis scored 24 of his points in the second half as the Texans (12-5, 1-1 South) improved to 12-0 at home this season and extended their homecourt winning streak at Wisdom Gym to 33 games, the third-longest active streak in NCAA Division II.

Junior guard Justin Redman-Trotter had a season-best 20 points for the Greyhounds (9-9, 3-1), who had a four-game winning streak snapped but maintained their division lead by one-half game over Midwestern State (13-5, 2-1), a 90-81 winner over West Texas A&M on Saturday.

The Hounds return home for a 7 p.m. game on Monday against the Buffaloes (10-8, 2-2).

ENMU coach Shawn Scanlan was disappointed to see the game get away late.

“We were the aggressors in the first half, but I really didn’t think we played with the same aggressiveness in the second half,” Scanlan said. “I knew they’d be ready to play us. In the first half, we showed indications that we were up to the task.”

ENMU broke away from a 13-13 tie by outscoring the Texans 22-7 over a span of 8 1/2 minutes and led 35-20 after a basket by Ira Cross with 3:25 left in the half.

The margin stayed in double figures for most of the first 12 minutes of the half. The Texans never got closer than eight until back-to-back 3-pointers by Jeremy Gilbert made it 59-55 with under five minutes left.

Two free throws by Redman-Trotter kept the Hounds in front 61-57 with 4:07 to go, but Tarleton went on a 10-0 run — all by Davis, including a 3-pointer — for a 67-61 advantage with 2:15 left.

Tristan Largent added 14 points and Ira Cross came off the bench to add 10 for ENMU. Also in double figures for the Texans were Gilbert with 13 points and guard Mike Daniels with 12.