Midwestern Men claim third straight with 87-80 win over Angelo State

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - The Midwestern State University Mustangs saw the Angelo State University Rams erase a 21-point MSU lead, but battled back to claim an 87-80 Lone Star Conference South victory Wednesday night at Gerald Stockton Court in D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

MSU (14-9, 3-5) got another season-best performance out of center Eric Dawson. á The 6-9 junior from San Antonio/Sam Houston tallied season-highs of 28 points and 18 rebounds to go with three blocks and three steals in leading MSU over ASU (8-15, 0-8).

It appeared that Midwestern would have an easy evening, using a 10-0 run in the first half to build a lead that would eventually go to the 16-point 45-29 halftime score.

MSU seemed to cruise along, adding to its lead until taking a 21-point, 64-43 advantage with 11:38 to play.

That's when ASU decided to come back. á A three-point play by J.R. Pittman started the Rams first 11-0 run that ended with a pair of free throws by Dawson.

After both teams went a possession without a score, a technical foul on the MSU bench let Mychael Henry start another ASU 11-0 run that tied the game at 68-all with 5:21 to play.

Mustang Allen Houston quashed that spurt with a three, only to have the Rams add a pair of free throws. á Then Brian Young dropped in a running layup with 3:11 to play to give the Rams their first lead since early in the game.

With the game tied at 74-all, Dawson was fouled by Young with 2:17 to play. á But an official noticed Dawson had blood on his uniform and was replaced by freshman Russell Button who hit the free throws to give MSU the lead for good.

Midwestern used the foul line to hold on to the win, as the Mustangs hit all 12 of their free throws inside the last three minutes. Dawson, a 62 percent free throw shooter, went 12-of-14 from the line, missing only two early in the first half.Dawson, who didn't start for just the second time this season, joined Houston who collected 19 points as the only Mustangs in double figures. á Dawson got his 12th double-double of the season in the performance.

Angelo State was paced by Pittman with 25 points and nine boards, while Quinn Barfield added 21 points and Turner Phipps 11.

MSU tries to make it four straight on Saturday afternoon as it visits Abilene Christian for a 4 p.m. contest at Moody Coliseum. á The game follows the ACU-MSU women's contest that tips at 2 p.m.

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