Tarleton Heats Up Early To Surge Past Greyhounds - Lone Star Conference Skip To Main Content
Jeremy Enlow

Men's Basketball By Nick Eatman

Tarleton Heats Up Early To Surge Past Greyhounds

While Tarleton State is traditionally known for its tenacious defense, it was a hot start on the offensive end that  paced the Texans to a 72-59 win over Eastern New Mexico Thursday in the quarterfinals of the LSC Championship.

      The No. 3 seed in the tournament, Tarleton improved to 18-9 and will play seventh-seed West Texas A&M Friday afternoon (2:30 p.m.) in the semifinal round at the Allen Event Center. The season ends for the Greyhounds, who finish the year 12-15.

      TSU knocked down five of its first seven 3-point attempts and had a quick 14-6 lead. Things only got better for the Texans, who shot 47.1 percent in the first half and used a 20-4 run that led to a 43-19 halftime advantage.

      In the second half, the Greyhounds chipped away, thanks to hot shooting from Rodney Blackmon, who led all scorers with 26. Despite leading by as much as 27, the Texans saw their lead trimmed to 11 with 2:29 to play but it never got any closer.

      TSU guard Chuck Guy, a recent first-team All-LSC pick, led the team with 15 points. Jon Cathey-Macklin showed why we was named the LSC Defensive Player of the Year as he ripped down 10 rebounds and scored nine points and had two blocks. Coleman Furst scored 14 points, shooting 4 of 5 on 3-pointers. De’Andre Upchurch came off the bench to score 12 points.

      Blackmon was 7 of 14 from the field, with four 3-pointers. Phil Henry added 12 points and six rebounds.

      Tarleton and ENMU split the regular-season matchups with the Greyhounds winning in Portales back on Jan. 16, 59-56 before the Texans won the rematch, 71-58 on Feb. 27. Thursday’s game was the first-ever meeting between the two teams on a neutral floor.

      The Texans have now won 30 of the last 32 meetings against the Greyhounds.

Tarleton vs ENMU Gallery

 
Tarleton State Notes
  •  Tarleton State improved to 12-3 in Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament quarterfinal games by claiming its fourth straight opening round win.
  • The Texans moved to 21-13 all-time in LSC postseason play.
  • Tarleton snapped a three-game skid in games away from Wisdom Gym with its opening round win over Eastern New Mexico. The Texans are 2-7 on the road this season and now 1-0 on neutral floors.
  • The Texans advance to face West Texas A&M in Friday's semifinal round. Tipoff at the Allen Event Center is set for 2:30 p.m.
  • Tarleton ran out to a 43-19 halftime edge and led by as many as 27 points.
  • Junior guard Chuck Guy scored 15 points and matched a season high with eight assists.
  • Junior forward Jon Cathey-Macklin fell one point shy of his second double-double of the season on one board short of matching a season high with nine points and 10 rebounds.
 
Eastern New Mexico Notes
  • This was ENMU’s 24th appearance in the Lone Star Conference Tournament and third straight under Coach Andy Helton.
  • The Greyhounds have an 8-16 record in the tournament.
  • ENMU is 8-31 versus Tarleton all-time.
  • Rodney Blackmon picked up two fouls in the game’s first 1:46. He was called for a charge with 3:55 left in the half for his third foul.
  • Blackmon finished with 28 points it was his 12th 20-point game of the season and highest-point total of the year by a Greyhound.
  • Phil Henry finished with 12 points matching his season-high . His season average was 4.5 points a game.
  • First three baskets of the game were three-pointers for Greyhounds.