SAN ANTONIO - Nolan Richardson became the first Midwestern State player in nearly 55 years to score at least 30 points in three-straight games as the senior guard poured in 32 points to lead the Mustangs to a 77-72 upset of No. 16 Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) Sunday afternoon in the River City Classic at Bill Greehey Arena.

For the second-straight day, the Mustangs erased a double-digit opening-half deficit with a patented run of their own to open the second half.

"We've finally put some pieces together and now we hate to go to the break now that we've got some people back," MSU coach Jeff Ray said.

Ouachita Baptist took advantage of a 14-1 run midway through the opening half to open up a 26-15 lead when Jaranimo Marks converted a steal into a layup with 7:54 remaining.

Marks would finish the game with a team-high 21 points and hit five 3-pointers, but the Mustangs found a chink in the 9-3 Tigers' armor.

"I told the guys we were in better than them at halftime," Ray said. "Then we did a great job of pushing the ball at them in the second half and that was the key."

Senior guard Earl Rabb, who finished with six points, seven assists and seven rebounds to go along with five steals, and Richardson, who added six assists and five rebounds to his game-high 32 points combined for 13 assists to wear down OBU.

But the Mustangs looked to senior forward Marcus Anderson off of the bench to open the second half.

Anderson secored each of his seven points during a 13-3 MSU run to open the second as the Mustangs turned a 39-31 halftime deficit into a 44-42 lead when Richardson canned a jumper from the elbow with 14:02 to play.

The teams would exchanged the lead and tied seven times in the second half, but Midwestern took the lead for good on a Craig Green 3-pointer with 4:17 to play.

Green was the lone MSU player other than Richardson in double figures as the junior transfer from Brookhaven College finished with 11 points.

Richardson became the first player since Ray "Pops" Schumann to score 30 points in three consecutive games. Schumann splashed in 31 against Wayland Baptist on Jan. 9, 1954 before 39 in consecutive games at Trinity in San Antonio on Jan. 14 and 15, 1954.

Richardson scored 34 in an overtime win over Texas A&M-Commerce on Wednesday before scoring 32 against Northwest Missouri State on Saturday.

"He's just on a run right now," Ray said. "The key is that he's aggressive off of the dribble and getting to the free-throw line. He's playing at a very high level right now."

Richardson hit 14-of-15 charity tosses in Sunday's victory and is 39-for-42 (92.9 percent) during his historic scoring run.

The Mustangs, who have won their last three games to improve to 6-4, play host to Texas-Permian Basin on Tuesday, Dec. 30 at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.