Tarleton finishes season sweep of Lions

STEPHENVILLE – After taking a pair of conference wins over Texas A&M University-Commerce on the road, Tarleton State's hardwood teams finished the job Saturday, routing both the A&M-Commerce teams at Wisdom Gym and completing the season sweep.

The TexAnns improved to 13-5 overall and 10-0 in LSC play with a 91-61 victory over the A&M-Commerce women, who fell to 1-15 overall and a league-worst 0-10. The Lions are the only Lone Star Conference team without a win in league play.

Following the TexAnns' best offensive output of the season, Tarleton State's men picked up where the ladies left off.

The fifth-ranked Texans used an early 22-0 run to cruise to a 78-53 win over the Lions, just three days after A&M-Commerce had lost by just four points to the same opponent.

Tarleton's men upped their record to 17-1 and 9-0 in the LSC, while the Lions lost their fourth straight and fell to 6-11, and 1-8 in conference play. A&M-Commerce currently occupies the bottom spot in both leagues.

In the women's game, Tarleton jumped out to an 18-7 lead after a pair of Peyton Adamson triples, and held the Lions to just 26 points in the first half, while the TexAnns managed a season-high 55 points in the first stanza.

Sophomore Breanna Harris – who has emerged as the new floor leader for the Lions – led A&M-Commerce with 14 points, while Abigail Leaupepe-Tele had her biggest game of the year with 12 points and five rebounds.

Tarleton State got 17 points from Adamson and 13 from her older sister, Shelby. The TexAnns repeated their effort in the first meeting, with four players reaching double figures in scoring.

On the men's side, Brad Hambrick scored 13 points and Desmond King added 12 for the Lions, but Tarleton led 11-4 after just five minutes and then put together a 22-0 run over the next nine minutes to take a 33-4 lead.

Tarleton State led by as many as 30 before taking a 42-17 lead into the break. Chris Harrell led the Texans and all scorers with 21, while Wes Dipprey grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

A&M-Commerce was outrebounded by a 42-27 margin and finished the game shooting just 27.5 percent from the floor (11-of-40).

Both teams were in Wichita Falls on Wednesday to take on tough Midwestern State squads. The Lions return home Saturday to host Cameron. The women will tipoff at 6 p.m. with the men to follow at a round 8 p.m.