WICHITA FALLS, Texas – After seeing three first-round games go down to the wire Saturday at the South Central Regional, No. 4 seed Tarleton State left little doubt in their route to the second round.

The Texans jumped out quickly on fifth-seeded Colorado-Mines and cruised to an 83-61 win at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

With balanced scoring, tenacious defense and a ball-control offense that limited turnovers, TSU took the first step in defending their regional title. The Texans will advance to face No. 8 seed Lubbock Christian, which knocked out the regional host Midwestern State, preventing another battle in the Tarleton-MSU series.
The Texans improve to 22-8, while the season ends for the Orediggers at 24-8.

Ten different players scored for the Texans, including four in double-figures. Leading the way was E.J. Reed, who scored 19, while Chantz Chambers and Romond Jenkins each had 14. Charles Hill came off the bench to score 12 in just 17 minutes. 

Mines had just two players in double figures, led by Gokul Natesan, who had 14 points. Caleb Waitsman had 13, although the Orediggers shot just 38.1 percent (16 of 42) for the game.

CSM struggled from the floor early, missing their first nine shots of the field, falling behind 18-3 in the first nine minutes, and then 23-7 with 8:43 to play.

After Mines got as close as nine in the first, Chambers drilled a 3-pointer for TSU before halftime, pushing the lead back to 15 at the break.

In the second half, TSU kept up the pressure on both ends as Chambers stayed hot from 3-point land, hitting three triples. On defense, the Texans got five blocks from Xavier Smith.

Tarleton State became the second Lone Star Conference team to advance to the regional semifinals, along with No. 3 seed Angelo State, which will play No. 2 seed Fort Lewis, the winners of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.