MSU Men upset West Texas A&M 82-79

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - A Chad Rickett layup with 20.4 seconds to play and Eric Dawson's only block of á the game with seven seconds to go helped lead the Midwestern State University Mustangs to an 82-79 Lone Star Conference South victory over West Texas A&M Thursday night at

MSU (16-10, 5-6) stayed alive in the race for the final LSC Tournament slot from the South division. á West Texas (19-7, 8-3) remains in second in the LSC South with a showdown against division champion Tarleton State on Saturday.

MSU controlled the tempo most of the contest, building an eight-point 42-34 lead at the half. á The Mustangs came out of the gate for the second half with a 7-1 in the first 3:18 to take a 14-point advantage on a Chris Francois three-pointer.

MSU and WT battled hard narrowing the score to 59-49 with 10:47 to play. á That's when the vaunted WT rally kicked in.

Started by a Goran Stanic layup, West Texas A&M went on a 9-0 run in the next three minutes to pull within one with 6:59 to play on a Ronnie Holmes layup.

But MSU ended the rally and pumped themselves up with a three from Tate Lombard and the battle was on.

MSU pushed a lead to three with a pair of free throws from LaKeith Grant with 2:17 to go, only to have Holmes bury a three just 10 seconds later to tie the game.

With 1:07 to play and the game tied at 77-all, Holmes fouled Eddie Rowe who hit one of two free throws.

WT worked for a shot by Holmes that appeared to be blocked by Dawson, who was whistled for a foul. á Holmes hit both of the shots with 38.7 to play, giving WT the 79-78 advantage.

After coming down floor and calling a time out, the Mustangs worked the ball to Rickett who drove the lane for the layup with 20.4 seconds to take the lead.

The Buffs drained the clock to just seven seconds left when Steve Jackson tried to shoot a baseline jumper over Dawson who blocked the ball, the rebound went to Holmes who missed an off-balance shot and fouled Rowe with 2.1 to play.

The senior from Houston/Willowridge nailed both charity tosses for the 82-79 lead and a desperation shot from three-quarter court was errant for WT.

MSU was led by Rickett with 16 points, while Grant, Dawson and Allen Houston each tallied 14 points. á Dawson got his 14th double-double of the year with 12 rebounds along with a block and steal. á Houston went 4-of-4 from the three-point arc.

WT was paced by Kyle Shields who tallied 25 points and Holmes with 15. á Jackson grabbed six rebounds to lead the Buffs.

MSU nailed 7-of-12 shots from the three-point arc, for a season-best 58.3 percent, connecting on 45 percent from the floor (29-65) and 85 percent (17-20) from the foul line.

WTAMU hit 50 percent from the field (22-of-44), but 8-of-21 from the arc (38.1 percent) and 27-of-34 from the line (79.4 percent).

MSU's only chance of getting the final conference tournament berth rests with sixth ranked Tarleton State beating Eastern New Mexico Thursday in Stephenville. á Then the Mustangs must beat ENMU at Ligon Coliseum in Saturday's 8 p.m. contest that closes the regular season for both teams.

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