Bulldogs Make it Look Easy, Blast Tarleton

January 6, 2007

Marcus Millender

WEATHERFORD – Southwestern Oklahoma State University put a quick end to a pesky two-game losing streak with a surprisingly easy 104-80 victory over visiting Tarleton State University in men’s basketball action Saturday.

The Bulldogs, now 11-2 on the year and ranked No. 18 in the latest NCAA Division II poll, took out their frustration after back-to-back losses to Oklahoma State University and Texas A&M-Kingsville and blistered TSU with its fast-paced attack. The win was SWOSU’s first in 10 tries against Tarleton who entered the game with a 9-2 record and a No. 13 national ranking.

Nate Perry had 20 points and Michael Sampson provided some spark of the bench with 15 points as the Bulldogs cracked the 100-point barrier for the third time this season. Marcus Millender added 14, Reggie Gunn chipped in with 13, Othello Alford added 12 and Jose Garcia had his first double-double of the year with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Tarleton was led by Jeremy Gilbert and John Davis each with 16 points.

Michael Sampson

SWOSU wasted no time and were ahead 13-2 after Clarke Hale made a three-pointer with 15:37 remaining in the first half. The Bulldogs built their advantage to 20 points at 30-10 on a pair of free throws by Perry with only 10 minutes played. The Bulldogs kept that margin eventually taking a 43-24 lead into the break.

Tarleton tried to chip away and had the Bulldogs lead trimmed to 16 early in the second half before SWOSU went on 16-4 run to put the game out of reach. Sampson hit a jumper to make it 63-35 with 14:44 to play and the game for all purposes was over at that point.

SWOSU made 37-of-66 (56%) of its shots while the Texans connected on just 31-of-71 attempts (44%). SWOSU made 17 of 26 free throws while TSU made less than half of its 30 attempts from the charity stripe, connecting on just 14.

SWOSU will next be in action at home Thursday, Jan. 11 against Abilene Christian University. The men’s and women’s doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.