Texans earn first conference victory of the season

By: Thomas Winzeler

Managing Editor

The Tarleton State University men’s basketball team snapped a five-game losing streak on Saturday, Jan. 30 in Orem, Utah in a 70-62 win over the Utah Valley Wolverines. This win also marks the first Western Athletic Conference victory for the Texans.

The Texans led from the very beginning against the previous unbeaten Utah Valley and ended up winning by eight points.

Junior Montre Gipson who was scoreless in the previous game bounced back with a game-high 24 points and led the team in scoring. This is his fifth game this season where he scored 20 or more points. Gipson went 4-5 in 3-point shots and the team went 9-16 on 3-pointers.

Other leading scorers were Senior Jonathan Jackson, Junior Tahj Small and Junior Shakur Daniel.

The Texans led by as much as 12 points in the first half and held a 31-24 lead at halftime. In the second half, Gipson, Jackson, Small and Daniel all scored a combined 33 points.

Utah State fought back and were down two points with 14:18 left in the game. With the score 40-38 and the Wolverines on the Texan’s heels, the Texans responded with a 23-15 run over the next ten minutes. Giving them a double-digit lead in the final minutes. The Texans then proceeded to ice the game by going on a 7-0 run at the free-throw line.

The Texans also stepped up on defense, limiting Utah Valley to conference low 62 points and forced the Wolverines to turn the ball over 12 times. The Texan also held Utah State to just 31 percent on made 3-pointers. The Texans only had seven turnovers on offense which makes this the eight-straight game with single-digit turnovers.

The Texan’s next game will be in two weeks when they take on conference opponent Dixie State on Feb.19-30 in St. George, Utah.