WEATHERFORD, Okla. -- No. 13 Midwestern State used an 19-2 second-half run to pull out a 68-60 win over Southwestern Oklahoma in Friday night's season opener as part of the SWOSU Classic at Rankin Williams Fieldhouse.
 
The Mustangs, who claimed their third straight season opener, close tournament play against East Central (Okla.) Saturday afternoon. ECU dropped a 72-62 decision to Angelo State earlier Friday afternoon.
 
Midwestern overcame deep foul trouble in the first half and a great early second half surge by the Bulldogs as SWOSU's lead ballooned to nine points when Trent Washington hit a jumper for a 42-33 lead with 15:26 to play.
 
"What a tough basketball game. We've been so good in the past about dealing with adversity," MSU coach Nelson Haggerty said. "Each year your team has to find that switch. We battled through fouls in the first half and had to make an adjustment."
 
After the teams exchanged buckets, senior guard Cam Adderley kick started the 19-2 run when followed his own miss with a put back with 14:23 to play to cut the lead to seven.
 
MSU peeled off 14 consecutive points, tied the game on a Monzaigo Williams 3-pointer then got consecutive layups by Tavarion Nix and Xavier Blackburn before SWOSU's Gary Inglett stopped a 5-minute scoring drought for the Bulldogs with a pair of free throws.
 
But the run continued with a 3-pointer from the corner by Derrell Gibbs and a layup in transition by Williams to stake the Mustangs to 53-46 advantage with 6:23 to play.
 
"During that 18-2 run, I think bonded together and learned how to win," Haggerty said. "(Williams) just really stepped up and stepped into some shots and made plays for others. For whatever reason, he didn't start out playing so well tonight. He started getting into it at the end of the first half and that carried over after halftime."
 
Williams scored 11 of his game-high 17 points in the second half, but senior backcourt mate DeJuan Plummer gave MSU a big lift with 12 points in the second half finishing a solid all-around performance with 16 points, six rebounds and six assists.
 
Plummer hit a pair of free throws during the run, but played a key role by dishing out three assists to spur the Mustangs into the lead.
 
"He did it all for us tonight," Haggerty said. "What I can say about him is that he is aggressive and can make plays."
 
Junior swingman Xavier Blackburn scored 11 points and pulled down six rebounds off of the bench, while senior forward Eddie D'Haiti had 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting in 22 minutes of play.
 
The Mustangs committed just six turnovers and converted 15 Southwestern Oklahoma miscues into 18 points. The Bulldogs had no points off of turnovers.
 
Michael Bradley joined Inglett with 14 points each to pace SWOSU.