WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Midwestern State's Nolan Richardson and Earl Rabb took command in the second half to lift the Mustangs to an 85-75 Lone Star Conference South Division win Wednesday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

Midwestern moved into a first-place tie with Texas A&M-Kingsville at 6-2 with Angelo State a half-game back at 5-2. The Rams had the night off and will face Abilene Christian Saturday night in San Angelo.

The Mustangs (17-6) travel to Portales to battle Eastern New Mexico Saturday night at Greyhound Arena. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. or 25 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game which begins at 6.

Richardson canned his fourth 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the game away and give MSU a SU an 81-73 lead with 50 seconds to play.

West Texas A&M had whittled a 13-point Mustangs advantage to 73-67 when Fabrice Tafo hit a 4-foot jumper in the paint with 3:11 to go.

But the Mustangs outscored the Buffs 12-8 the rest of the way to secure the victory.

Rabb, who came into the game shooting 44.4 percent for the season from the free throw line, foiled West Texas A&M's fouling strategy by hitting five of his eight charity tosses in the second half.

Rabb finished with a career-best 21 points and completed a double-double with 10 rebounds, while Richardson notched his fifth-straight 20-point effort to finish with 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

Junior guard Craig Green rebounded from a two-point effort last Saturday at Tarleton to score 16 points while connecting on seven of eight from the free-throw line.

Niko Stylianou paced the Buffs with 19 points off of the bench, while Tafo added 14.

West Texas A&M fell to 15-8 overall and 5-3 in the LSC South Division.