STEPHENVILLE, Texas -- De'Andre Upchurch poured in 23 points off of the bench to lead Tarleton State to a 75-60 win over the outright Lone Star Conference champion Midwestern State Mustangs Saturday night at Wisdom Gym.
 
"What a great game," MSU coach Nelson Haggerty said. "It was competitive and it was tough. It was the kind of game that you would expect between these programs."
 
The Texans, who improved to 16-8 on the season and to 9-7 in LSC play, raced out to a 19-10 before Midwestern settled in.
 
"We responded pretty well to a great crowd," Haggerty said. "We chased it and we were able to rebound the ball and came back pretty well by halftime."
 
MSU rallied behind the efforts of sophomore guard Derrell Gibbs, who scored 10 of his season-high 14 points in the opening half including three 3-pointers.
 
Senior forward Corbin Thomas hit a pair of free throws and had a tip-in before the first-half buzzer to give the Mustangs a 31-29 edge at the break.
 
Thomas finished with his ninth double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Mustangs.
 
MSU junior Eddie D'Haiti hit a jumper and 3-pointer then Thomas canned another jumper to give the Mustangs their largest lead of the game at 38-32 four minutes into the second half, but couldn't extend the lead.
 
"We had a lull and missed some opportunities to extend the lead and we were unable to recover," Haggerty said.
 
For the second consecutive year, the Mustangs were whistled for a Lone Star Conference season-high fouls at Wisdom Gym. After being called for an NCAA Division II single-game high of 38 fouls last season, MSU was called for 32 more fouls Saturday night.
 
"We fouled and had a lot called on us," Haggerty said. "It changed our rotation and then they were able to hit free throws and extended the game."
 
The 70 fouls over the last two seasons against MSU at Wisdom Gym are seven more than the combined total of fouls called in the two games over the past two years at D.L. Ligon Coliseum which includes a triple-overtime thriller.
 
Nevertheless, Tarleton State hit 21-of-25 free throws in the second half and used a 10-1 run in the closing minutes to put the game away.
 
Jon Cathey-Macklin added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Texans while Damion Clemons chipped in 11. Chuck Guy and Coleman Furst finished with 10 points each.
 
Midwestern State closes the regular season on Sunday, March 3 against Paul Quinn (Texas). Tipoff for the Senior Day matchup is set for 3:30 p.m.