MSU snaps Tarleton State's 33-game home win streak
STEPHENVILLE, Texas - The Midwestern State University Mustangs rode the Lone Star Conference South Player of the Week Chad Rickett to snap Tarleton State University's 33-game home-court winning streak with a 72-59 victory Monday night at Wisdom Gym.
Rickett led the Mustangs with 23 points and four assists as MSU raised its record to 14-4 overall and now stands alone at the top of the LSC South with a 3-1 record.
Tarleton lost at home for the first time since Jan. 22, 2005 when Central Oklahoma beat TSU 59-46.The Texans dropped to 12-6 overall, 1-2 in the LSC South.
Midwestern State jumped out to an early 10-point lead at 12-2 and 15-5 before the Texans answered with an 8-0 run to get close.
Tarleton overcame the early MSU advantage on a John Davis three-pointer, the first of three consecutive treys for the Texans in the midst of a 12-4 run that closed the half to give TSU a 36-33 lead.
TSU held a 42-40 lead with 16:11 remaining when the Mustangs took control of the half.
Eric Dawson got a layup to tie the game at 42-all, then Rickett buried a three with 14:20 to play to take a lead it would not relinquish as MSU stunned the Tarleton faithful with a 13-0 run to take an 11-point lead.
With an 11-point advantage with 8:07 to go, Tarleton made it's final run at the Mustangs.
A John Davis layup started a quick 6-0 run that pulled TSU within five after a Tanner Morgan layup with 5:43 to play.
But the Mustangs responded.
After getting his fourth foul Dawson proceeded to take three charges that killed Texan possession, with the offense answering each time.
The knife in the heart of the Texans came on consecutive possessions with under four minutes to play.
Rickett got a fast-break layup after a Dawson rebound, then another Dawson board off a missed TSU shot led to a Chris Davis three with 3:07 to play that put MSU up by a dozen.
The Mustangs rode out the final time with a Coffman three and a Dawson layup providing exclamation points on the win.
In addition to Rickett's 23 points, Dawson tallied 18 points and led MSU with seven boards, a block and three steals.Coffman collected 15 points for MSU with four assists as well.
Rickett hit 9-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the foul line to continue his red hot shooting.
John Davis was the only Tarleton player in double figures scoring, with 24 points and seven rebounds.Robert Hartfield added nine points for the Texans.
Not only did the win snap a 33-game home-court winning streak for TSU, it also ended the Texans four-game win streak over Midwestern
The Mustangs are in action again on Thursday when they travel to Abilene Christian for a women's and men's doubleheader.Tipoff of the men's contest will be at 8 p.m. at ACU's Moody Coliseum.
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