WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Midwestern State proved it could handle a slug fest with a 60-36 Lone Star Conference crossover win over East Central (Okla.) Thursday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

The Mustangs held the Tigers to fewer than 20 points in each half and limited them to 29.8-percent shooting including a 1-of-12 effort from the 3-point line.

"Give those guys credit though because they compete," MSU coach Grant McCasland said. "We're going to play tough, physical basketball. It'll be games like this that allows us to win games in conference."

East Central slowed the game down and gave the Mustangs a look at some tough man-to-man defense. MSU worked its way to a modest 42.9-percent shooting night and used a 17-0 run late in the first half to break open the game after ECU pulled within 15-13 with 11:01 to play.

Senior guard Chris Hagan, who finished with a game-high 17 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists, ignited the run with a layup and a 3-pointer before Michael Loyd hit a pair of layups before connecting on consecutive treys to push the advantage to 32-13 with 4:14 to go in the first half.

The Mustangs, who led all the way while extending their home court winning streak to 33 games, led by as many as 30 points in the second half while outscoring ECU 36-10 in points in the paint.

"The good thing is we're getting better defensively," McCasland said. "We're missing some shots on our dead legs, but we will hit those later in the year."

Loyd accounted for each of his 10 points during the early run while Charlie and Keonte' Logan pitched in eight points each. Junior forward Thomas Colbert scored six points and pulled in a team-high seven rebounds off of the bench.

Caprest Rhone paced East Central with nine points.

Midwestern State takes on Southwestern Oklahoma on Sat. Dec. 12 in Weatherford. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.