Dixie State kicked off its second season of Western Athletic Conference play on a sour note as the Trailblazers dropped an 83-69 home decision to Tarleton State on Thursday night in the Burns Arena.
 
DSU (7-7/0-1 WAC) was plagued by another slow start and the short-handed Texans took full advantage. Dressing only 10 players for the game and with six of those players seeing court time on the night, Tarleton (6-8/1-0 WAC) knocked down eight of its first 15 shots, including 3-of-5 from the perimeter, en route to a commanding 21-7 lead midway through the first half.
 
Meanwhile the Blazers misfired on 12 of their first 15 shot attempts, with Hunter Schofield accounting for all seven of DSU's points in the early going.
 
Trailing 30-18 with under six minutes to go in the period, the Blazers got on a little roll of their own with an 11-4 spurt to make it a two-possession game at 34-29 with 3:18 on the clock.

Noa Gonzales got the rally started with a 3-pointer, while Dancell Leter got three points the conventional way with a lay-in and free throw. Frank Staine followed with an offensive put back later in the run and Cameron Gooden drew Dixie State to within five with a clutch trey.
 
However DSU would be held to just one more field goal the rest of the frame as Tarleton scored eight of the final 10 points to take a 42-31 lead into the halftime break.
 
Staring at a 57-43 with 12 minutes to play, the Trailblazers mounted one more run, this time outscoring Tarleton 14-3 over a near five-minute stretch to pull to within two at 59-57 after a Leter offensive board and lay-in with 7:13 to go.
 
However Dixie State could not wrestle the lead away as Tarleton countered with a 14-4 run of its own to extend back to a double-digit advantage at 73-61 with 4:00 minutes left.
 
Staine stopped the run with a 3-pointer on DSU's next possession. Then after a Blazer stop, Leter converted another three-point play on the Blazers' next trip down to cut the Texan lead in half with 2:56 remaining, but Tarleton would go on to outscore the Blazers 10-2 the rest of the way to close out the win.
 
Gooden led five Trailblazers in double figures with 15 points to go along with a game and career-high tying eight rebounds and four assists. Schofield added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while Leter poured in 13 points, Gonsalves chipped in 11 points off the bench, and Staine finished with 10 points.

Dixie State shot 44.8 percent from the floor (26-of-58), which included an 8-of-23 (.348) clip from the perimeter. The Blazers also went 9-of-11 (.818) at the foul line and outrebounded Tarleton 34-29.
 
Four of Tarleton's five starters played all 40 minutes and all four scored in double figures, with Freddy Hicks leading the way with a game-high 27 points. The Texans hit on an even 50.0 percent (29-of-58) of their shot attempts, including 10-of-20 from 3-point country.

Dixie State rings in the New Year with a match-up against WAC newcomer Abilene Christian on Saturday, Jan. 1. Tip-off inside the Burns Arena is set for 7 p.m.