Midwestern Men open the season with victory

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - The Midwestern State University men's basketball team opened the season Tuesday night at Gerald Stockton Court in D.L. Ligon Coliseum with an 85-73 victory over Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College.

MSU (1-0) struggled early against Hillsdale (2-4), allowing an 11-point first half lead to dwindle to one with 24 seconds to play in the half before Alan Houston's layup gave MSU a 43-40 advantage.

The second half was much the same as MSU built a seven-point advantage twice, before a quick run cut the MSU lead to 52-51 with 7:59 to play.

But MSU came out of an official timeout with an 8-1 run and it never was close again.

Midwestern was paced by the play of Chad Rickett who led the team with 19 points, while newcomer Chris Francois posted 17 points and four rebounds.Eddie Rowe collected 14 points, with Houston adding 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.Tate Lombard added seven boards to go with his 10 points.

Hillsdale was paced by the play of Jimmy Gibbs who led all scorers with 30 points and nine rebounds.Josh Standlee popped for 12 points as well.

MSU shot 56 percent from the floor and 42 percent from the three-point arc, while HC hit 55 percent from the floor and 40 percent from the arc.

MSU hits the road for the first time this season on Saturday by traveling to Magnolia, Ark., to face Southern Arkansas in a 7 p.m. contest.