STEPHENVILLE ? The No. 15 Tarleton Texans used a strong shooting performance to outlast the eighth-seeded St. Mary's Rattlers Saturday in the final game of the day in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional, 70-64.
The Texans, who improved to 24-6 on the season, were led by senior Avery Patterson with 23 points while Terrence Gamble added a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds as Tarleton advanced to play Southwest Baptist in the second semifinal game Sunday scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Tarleton shot .444 from the field in the win as they battled the Rattlers for the first time this season.
“We knew this game was going to be a battle,” said Tarleton head coach Lonn Reisman. “This was a tough opening round game, and we knew it would be. We have played each other many times over the years, and nothing has changed. We know each other well, and this was just like every other physical game we have played with St. Mary's.
“There is a lot of pressure on us to win in the first round being the host team,” Reisman said. “Our guys exhibited a lot of poise tonight. I thought we played well, especially down the stretch. I thought we played smart basketball, and it paid off for us.”
Patterson led the team in scoring for the 15th time this season and started out hot from the field.
“I wanted to come out and give our team a boost to start the game,” Patterson said. “This was my first time to play in the tournament, and we are blessed to be here. I just wanted to come out and be a leader for our team.”
Patterson got the game rolling with a three from the right corner to give the Texans the lead with 19:24 on the clock. Gamble added to the lead with almost minute later with a layup off an inbounds pass. Patterson then tipped a rebound off a Robert Owens shot, butt he ball went in to give St. Mary's its first basket with just over 18 minutes remaining in the period.
Patterson then had a layup for the Texans in the middle of the paint to stretch the lead to five before the senior sank a shot from beyond the arc, this one from the left wing, and Tarleton led 10-2. Eric Williams then caught an inbounds pass at the 16:34-mark to push the advantage to 10.
With 16:11 remaining in the period, Latez Williams went to the line for the Rattlers, and the senior made the first, but missed the second. Marcus Hill then hit a three from the left wing for the visitors, but Patterson returned the favor on the opposite end. Wale Ogunoye found Tarleton's Williams underneath for an easy layup, but Nick Morey got a putback for the Rattlers.
With 11:52 on the clock , Robert Owens had a bucket for the visitors to cut the lead to seven, but Patterson hit a fading jumper from the right side for the Texans. Roderick Bellard then had a three for the Rattlers with just under 10 minutes, but Patterson did the same once again on the other end of the floor.
At the 8:32-mark, Bellard hit his second three of the game to cut the lead to four (22-18), before Morey cut the lead to two with a jumper from the top of the key. Bellard then hit a three with 7:24 on the clock to give the Rattlers a one-point lead, 23-22. Hill then had a bucket for SMU to put the visitors up by three.
Dominique Richardson then had a layup for SMU before Marlin Cloudy had a putback on the opposite end to cut the lead to 27-25. With 4:46 on the clock, Morey had a free throw for the Rattlers. Jeffrey Henfield had a bucket in the middle of the paint for his first points of the evening to cut the advantage to one. Morey then hit the backend of a two-shot foul with 3:40 on the clock before Gamble had layup on the left side. The Texan senior was fouled on the shot, and he sank the bonus shot to return the lead to Tarleton, 30-29.
Patterson got a steal on an inbounds pass and had a fastbreak layup at 3:02 to make it a three-point game. Neither team scored again until there was 58.52 seconds left when Ogunoye hit the backend of a two-shot foul to make it a four-point contest. SMU's Allen Coleman had two free throws to make it 33-31 Texans at the break.
Owens started the second half with a bucket for the Rattlers to tie the game at 33 just seconds into the second period. Hill then had a three from the left corner at 18:55 to put the visitors up by three. With 18:18 on the clock, Mike Daniels went to the line for the Texans, and the senior hit the first and missed the second.
Patterson then found Dan Eichel underneath for a layup to tie the game at 36 with just over 17 and a half minutes on the clock. Gamble had a left-handed hook off the glass on the return trip to give Tarleton the lead, 38-36. At 15:15, SMU tied the game with a Richardson jumper in the paint, but Patterson got a fastbreak layup after a defensive rebound by the Texans.
Lorenzo Anthony hit a jumper for the visitors on the other end, but Ogunoye went to the line for Tarleton at 14:14. The Texan missed the first and made the second free throw to give Tarleton a 41-40 advantage. Patterson caught an inbounds pass from Limar Wilson, and he nailed a three from the left corner.
With 12:12 on the clock, Henfield went to the line for Tarleton, and the senior hit both to make it 46-40. Hill had a bucket at 11:41 for SMU to end a scoring drought before Henfield got a jumper in the paint for the Texans. Henfield got a layup on the return trip for the Texans to push the lead to eight before Hill had a jumper in the paint.
Coleman went to the line with 9:30 on the clock, and the Rattler hit both bonus shots to make it 50-46 Tarleton. A minute later, Coleman had a layup on the opposite end to cut the lead to two before the Rattler hit a jumper in the paint to tie the game at 50. He was fouled in the process, and the senior made the bonus shot to return the lead to SMU, 51-50.
With 7:39 remaining in the period, Gamble was sent to the line to shoot two free throws. The Texan senior hit both free throws to put Tarleton ahead by one. Owens got a putback for the Ratlers before Gamble converted an old-fashioned three-point play for the Texans. Tarleton led 55-53.
Morey had a layup with 6:43 on the clock before Wilson had a three from the top of the key to make it 58-55. Henfield then got a rebound, drove the length of the floor and got a layup. He was fouled and the senior missed the shot, but Tarleton led 60-55. Morey then had a long-range jumper, but Gamble got a layup on the other end.
Morey had a jumper in the paint for the Rattlers to make it a three-point game with just under four minutes left in the contest. Gamble got the ball in the hoop with a right-handed hook at 3:25 to push the lead to five. Twenty-three seconds afterwards, SMU's Morey went to the line and hit both to cut the lead to three.
At the 2:06-mark, Eichel went to the line for Tarleton after he was pushed setting a screen. The Texans sophomore sank both bonus throws for a five-point lead, 66-61. Daniels was then fouled with 44.55 seconds remaining to stop the clock. The Texan senior hit the first and missed the second. Tarleton led 67-61.
Daniels was fouled again to stop the clock, this time with 31.68 seconds on the clock. The senior hit the first and missed the second again to make it 68-61. Coleman went to the line for SMU with 14.98 seconds left, and the Rattler hit the backend of the two-shot foul.
Henfield was fouled with 5.32 ticks left on the clock, and the Texan senior hit both before Coleman had a layup with 1.1 seconds left to give the game its final score with Tarleton winning, 70-64.
Henfield had 12 points for the Texans as Tarleton had three in double figures in the victory. Gamble's 10 rebounds the squad.
Tarleton averaged .444 from the floor (24-54), .400 from the arc (6-15) and .593 from the charity stripe (16-27).
The Rattlers were led y Morey with 14 points and 11 rebounds while Hill (12), Coleman (12) and Bellard (11) each scored in double digits. Morey led the team in rebounds.
SMU averaged .471 from the floor (24-51), .500 from the arc (5-10) and .579 from the line (11-19).
The Texans will take on the Bearcats of SBU in the quarterfinal round at 7:30 p.m. SBU (22-7) advanced with a 95-79 victory over West Texas A&M in the third game of the day. The two teams have never met on the hardwood.
