Mustangs down West Texas A&M 90-81
WICHITA FALLS, Texas - The Midwestern State University Mustangs never trailed in the game, but needed 12-3 to break a tie and held on to beat West Texas A&M 90-81 in Lone Star Conference South action Saturday night at Gerald Stockton Court in D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
MSU (13-4, 2-1) allowed a 20-point first half lead to totally evaporate, but never allowed the Buffaloes (10-8, 2-2) to hold the lead.
MSU used a 20-4 run midway through the first half to build a 20-point 36-16 lead, only to see the Buffs chip away at the advantage and cut it to six at 48-42 heading into the lockerroom at the half.
The Mustangs built a 10-point lead to start the second half when the Buffs Damien Lolar buried a three to start a 10-0 run that ended with a Lolar dunk with 15:37 to play and tied the score at 53-all.
After a Midwestern time out, senior Chad Rickett answered with a three-pointer to start a 9-1 run for the Mustangs, giving MSU some breathing room.
Lolar pulled West Texas within three with a layup with 7:40 to go, but a Chris Francois dunk, followed by a fast-break layup by Eric Dawson retained the MSU lead and killed off the last serious challenge by the Buffs.
Rickett led all scorers with a season-high 30 points, his second 30-point effort of his career. Dawson</place /></city /> added 19 points with 10 rebounds and two blocks, while Drew Coffman collected 15 points with five assists.
Lolar, the leading scorer in the LSC, chalked up 27 points with six rebounds, five assists and four steals to lead WT.Tyler Cooper came off the bench with 20 points and seven rebounds, with Chris Hinz adding 11 points and Kevin Green 10.
MSU was outshot by
The Mustangs outrebounded the Buffs 32-31.
MSU plays it's third game in five days on Monday night, traveling to Wisdom Gym in Stephenville to face defending LSC South champ and preseason favorite Tarleton State.Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. on Monday.
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