By Alan Wiederhold-Sohn
HT Athletic Communications
TEXARKANA, Texas – Huston-Tillotson University's men's basketball team returned to the court for the first time in the new year Saturday but was turned away by Texas A&M–Texarkana by a score of 62-56.
The Rams were led by 11 points off the bench from forward
Cade Holzman, one of two players making their HT debut Saturday after joining the team at the end of the fall semester. Holzman, an Austin native and transfer from Angelina College, was 4-of-11 from the floor and grabbed seven rebounds and blocked two shots.
Braelon Seals and
Jayce Wright scored 10 points for the Rams, while
Charles Hallmon finished a point shy of a double-double, scoring nine points and securing a game-high 13 rebounds.
Texas A&M–Texarkana (10-4, 9-3 RRAC), in fourth place in the 13-team Red River Athletic Conference, was led by Deovaunta Williams' 13 points.
The Rams trailed by as many as 15 points late in the first half but outscored the host Eagles 14-2 over the final 4:10 of the opening period and trimmed Texarkana's lead to 29-25 heading into halftime. HT kept the game close in the second half – trimming the Eagle lead to two multiple times after halftime – but was unable to completely erase the home team's advantage.
The host Eagles escaped with the victory after shooting a season-low 4.8 percent (1 of 21) from 3-point range in the game. The Rams shot 19.2 percent (5 of 26) from the 3-point arc, with two 3-pointers apiece from Wright and St. Mary's (Texas) transfer
Blake Fisher, who was also making his HT debut Saturday.
Texarkana players went to the free throw line 32 times in the contest, making 21 of their attempts (65.6 percent). Huston-Tillotson shot 59.1 percent (13 of 22) from the free throw line.
The Rams return home for their next two games this week, starting with a Thursday women's-and-men's doubleheader against Southwest (N.M.) to open the second half of conference play. The men's game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start.
– HT –
