Midwestern State men beat Southern Nazarene 92-90

Midwestern State men beat Southern Nazarene 92-90

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Midwestern State University senior Chad Rickett's layup and free throw with 1:07 to play gave the Mustangs a lead they wouldn't relinquish as they held on to defeat Southern Nazarene University 92-90 Saturday night in non-conference play at Gerald Stockton Court in D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

MSU, now 7-3 on the season, picked up it's fourth straight victory with the win. Southern Nazarene fell to 10-2 on the season with the loss.

It was the second consecutive win against a team that was nationally ranked for the NCAA Division II Mustangs. After knocking off 12th ranked

Northwest
Missouri
State
before taking a Christmas break, MSU came back from the holiday by beating Southern, ranked 10th in the NAIA.

While Rickett's three-point play gave MSU the lead, the Mustangs held on in the final minute with a jumper by senior Drew Coffman with 29 seconds to play to go up by three 91-88.

But after a missed SNU shot, Midwestern turned the ball over and the Crimson Storm cut the lead to one after a foul by Chris Davis sent Leroy Dawson to the line for a pair of free throws.

But Rickett was fouled on the inbounds pass with 3.0 seconds to play, hitting one-of-two charity tosses.

Then the MSU defense kept the Crimson Storm from getting close enough for a game-winning shot.

Rickett led the way for MSU with 23 points to go with his six boards and five assists.

Eric Dawson posted his sixth double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds in addition to his three blocked shots. Coffman notched his second double-double with 16 points and a career-high 10 assists.

Christopher Reay added 10 points with seven boards and Chris Francois 10 for MSU.

SNU got 26 from

Dawson
, while Brent Kimmel came off the bench with 18 points, going 6-of-8 from the three point arc. Mildon Ambres double-doubled with 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Crimson Storm.

Midwestern
State
started a four-game home stand with the win. The Mustangs host Cameron in a non-conference contest at Ligon Coliseum and
Stockton Court
on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

+++ MSU +++