Second-Half Surge Lifts Texans Past Commerce - Lone Star Conference Skip To Main Content
Patrick Green

Men's Basketball By Nick Eatman

Second-Half Surge Lifts Texans Past Commerce

Six days after losing sole possession of the LSC Championship and the No. 1 regional ranking with a tough loss to Texas A&M-Commerce, Tarleton State avenged that loss Friday night with an 84-72 win over the Lions in the semifinal round of the LSC Championship.

        Tarleton (26-2) becomes the first team in LSC history to make the conference tournament final five straight years. The defending-champion Texans used a 16-6 run to open the second half and outscored the Lions 47-32 in the second half to pull away.

        For the third straight year, and fourth time in five seasons, the Texans will face Midwestern State in the final round. Tarleton and MSU (22-6) split the season-series with each team winning on the road. Saturday’s game will tip off around 5:30 p.m. and will be televised live by CSN Houston's secondary channel, CSN Plus.

        The Lions drop to 19-9 and will have to wait and see if they can make next week’s regional tournament. A&M-Commerce started the week ranked seventh in the region.

        After getting beat 22-10 on the boards at the half, Tarleton hit the glass in the second half and out-rebounded Commerce 17-15.

        Just as important, the Texans improved from the field, hitting 54.5 percent of their shots. De’Andre Upchurch scored 25 points while Chuck Guy just missed a double-double with 19 points and nine assists. Guy made 7 of 9 free-throw attempts, giving him 156 this season, a new Texan record surpassing Roderick Brown’s 154 in 1990. Guy also moved to fifth in school history with 167 assists.

        Tashawn Mabry, plagued by foul trouble all night, scored 11 points in just 15 minutes.

        The Lions had three players in double figures, led by LaDon Carnegie and Kameron Price each scored 14 points. Tyrie Wooten had 12 points. Carnegie, an All-LSC first-team pick, did have seven of the Lions’ 14 turnovers.


Tarleton State Notes
• The Texans trailed at the half for just the sixth time this season. Tarleton is now 4-2 overall when trailing at the break this season.
• Chuck Guy set the school’s all-time single season mark for free throws made as the senior now has 156 free throws made on the year. He breaks the previous all-time mark of 154 free throws made that was set by Roderick Brown back in 1989-90.
 • The Texans defense held A&M-C without a field goal for a little over eight minutes in the second half. De’Anddre Carson hit a three-pointer at the 12:00 mark and A&M-C did not score again until Kameron Price’s lay-up with 3:35 left to play.
 • The Texans and Lions are all knotted up in the all-time series, 30-30 after meeting for the 60th time on Friday.
 • Tarleton moved to 4-1 all-time when facing the Lions in the LSC Championship Tournament. Tonight’s game was the first match-up between the two schools in the tournament since 2010.
 • The Texans improved to 25-13 all-time in the tournament and has won five straight dating back to last season. Tarleton improved to 10-3 all-time in semifinal round games.
 • The Texans will be making its fifth straight championship final appearance on Saturday. It will mark the fourth straight year that the Texans and Mustangs will meet in the final.
 • The Texans have scored 80 points or more in 20 of its 28 games this season.
 • Tarleton added to its single-season school record in free throws made as a team. The Texans came into the game having made 585 free throws. Following tonight’s game, the Texans pushed its record to 615 made on the year.
 
 Texas A&M-Commerce Notes
  • Texas A&M-Commerce had a five-game winning streak snapped in Friday's LSC Postseason Tournament semifinal round falling to Tarleton State, 84-72.
  •  The Lions have played in 57 games in 35 LSC postseason appearances -- both are the most in league history.
  • Texas A&M-Commerce advanced out of the quarterfinal round for the first time since reaching the 2008 title game in Bartlesville, Okla. -- a 72-70 loss to Central Oklahoma.
  • Senior guard LaDon Carnegie scored in double figures for the 20th time this season. The first-team All-LSC performer scored 14 points connected on a pair of 3-pointers before fouling out in 27 minutes.
  • Senior guard Kameron Price scored in double figures in each of A&M-Commerce's LSC postseason games. He followed Thursday's night's 13-point effort by scoring 14 more against Tarleton State Friday night.
  • Senior guard Tyrie Wooten dropped in 12 points Friday against Tarleton State after netting 16 points Thursday against Eastern New Mexico.