WICHITA FALLS, Texas - One thing was certain in Wednesday night's Lone Star Conference South Division contest at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
No. 11 Midwestern State was going to make the West Texas A&M earn every point it got and the Buffs were going to have to do it hard way.
The Mustangs limited to five first-half field goals and and the Buffs made just 11 through the final media timeout with 3:38 to go.
All of that made the extension of Midwestern's homecourt winning streak to 20 a certainty as the Mustangs pounded West Texas A&M 90-69 to improve to 15-1 on the season while evening their LSC South Division mark at 1-1.
West Texas A&M scored 16 points over the final 3:38 to artificially inflate its final team field goal percentage to 40.5 percent, but before that no Buff made more than two field goals and WT was held to a 31.4 field goal percentage over the first 36-plus minutes of the contest.
Craig Green capped a 12-0 run with his only 3-pointer of the contest to give the Mustangs a 21-8 advantage with 9:35 to go in the first half.
West Texas A&M closed the gap to 37-28 at the half, but the Mustangs peeled off a 25-7 extended run at the beginning of the second half and led 62-35 on
Rashad Austin's layup with 9:29 to play.
The Mustangs used a 36-6 advantage in points off of turnovers to turn a game into a laugher in the second half.
Green finished with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while
Adrian Van Buren hit 7-of-10 shots from the field to match a season high with 20 points off of the bench.
Jason Ebie was assist shy of his second double-double of the season with 17 points and nine assists, while
Charlie Logan finished with 12 points and six rebounds.
LaDarius Hall paced West Texas A&M with 15 points, while Joe Mincey scored 12 of his 14 points from the charity stripe.
The game featured 56 personal fouls and 69 free throws between the teams.
Midwestern State takes on Eastern New Mexico Saturday night at Greyhound Arena in Portales. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. or 25 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game which begins at 7.
West Texas A&M slipped to 11-7 overall and 2-1 in LSC South Division play.
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