STEPHENVILLE ? Abilene Christian snapped a 15-game losing skid to Tarleton State back on Jan. 27. However, the Texans got back in the win column Wednesday night with an 80-64 win over the Wildcats at Wisdom Gym.
The Texans are now 122-13 since the 2001-02 season at home, and TSU shot 52 percent from the field in the victory. The cold-shooting Wildcats hit just 22 of 62 shots from the field and were only 6 of 27 from behind the 3-point arc.
Four players scored in double figures to lead TSU with Wale Ogunoye leading the balanced attack with 13 points. The pre-season all-American Eric Williams had 10 points and 14 rebounds while Courtney Hill had 12 points and four assists and Jeremiah Wilson scored 11.
In the first half, TSU led 25-9 with 7:44 remaining before ACU countered with a 13-0 run over the next 3:38 highlighted by seven points from Dante Adams and six from Dejan Sencanski. However, the Texans closed with a 12-6 run to end the half and TSU entered the locker room with a 36-28 halftime lead.
In the second half, ACU cut an eight-point half time deficit to five points at 40-35. However, TSU responded with a 16-6 run to make the score 56-41. ACU didn't get back to within 10 points of the lead until the 4-minute mark when Adams' lay-up cut the TSU lead to 69-61. But that would be as close as the Wildcats would get with the Texans closing the game on an 11-3 surge.
Adams led ACU in the losing effort with 19 points but shot just 1 for 10 from beyond the 3-point arc. Sencanski also struggled hitting just 4 of 13 from the field for 13 points. Ean Wagner scored 10 points off the bench.
The loss eliminated the Wildcats from Lone Star Conference postseason contention. After ending a nine-year drought last season, ACU will now miss the tournament for the ninth time in the past 10 years. The Wildcats fell to 8-15 overall and 2-7 in LSC South Division play.
The Texans won their fourth-straight LSC South Division contest after falling to the Wildcats at Moody Coliseum Jan. 27. The victory moves TSU to 17-8 overall and 5-5 in the LSC South.
The Wildcats return to action Saturday when they play host to Midwestern State at McMurry University due to ACU's Sing Song weekend.
