KINGSVILLE, Texas – Senior forward Khapri Alston registered 19 points and seven rebounds to lead four Mustangs in double figures and lift No. 22/21 Midwestern State to an 81-63 road win over Texas A&M-Kingsville Wednesday night at the Steinke Center.

With tonight's win, Midwestern State (19-5, 8-4 LSC) joins Angelo State, Cameron and West Texas A&M at the top of the Lone Star Conference standings with an 8-4 record. The Mustangs return home Saturday for Senior Night to host Angelo State in a 6 p.m. tipoff at D.L. Ligon Coliseum before traveling to Lawton, Okla., next Saturday to take on Cameron in the regular season finale.

Alston was joined in double figures by senior guard Bretson McNeal, who finished with 15 points and a team-high four assists. Junior guard Sheldon Hagigal netted 14 points on 3-of-4 shooting from long range while senior guard Jordan Stevens added 10 points off the bench.  

In the first half, a pair of triples by senior guard DJ Weathers assisted in an 8-0 Texas A&M-Kingsville (10-13, 2-10 LSC) run as the Javelinas grabbed a 15-8 lead on the Mustangs just over five minutes into the game. However, Midwestern answered the home team's spurt with an 8-0 run of its own to move back in front following a pair of free throws from junior forward Magnus Richards.

Back-to-back three-pointers from McNeal and Hagigal pushed the Mustangs advantage to 26-19 with 7:07 remaining in the first half. After TAMUK made it a one-possession game, a three-point play by McNeal capped off a 6-0 MSU run to give the Mustangs a 32-23 lead with four minutes left on the clock.

Junior guard Pat Smith connected on a triple to record the largest lead of the half for the Maroon and Gold at 37-24 with 2:42 to play as the Mustangs maintained a double-digit advantage the rest of the period before taking a 41-29 halftime lead.

Midwestern continued to pull away in the second half with Stevens netting six-straight points to extend the MSU lead to 59-40 with 13:48 remaining. A four-minute scoring drought for the Mustangs allowed the Javelinas to pull within 14, but three-straight turnovers prevented TAMUK from trimming its deficit down any further in the closing minutes.

A pair of Hagigal free throws stretched the Mustangs lead to a game-high 22 at 77-55 with 2:28 to play before going on to record the 81-63 victory.

Midwestern shot 45.0 percent (27-of-60) from the floor while connecting on an impressive 22-of-26 from the charity stripe for an 84.6 percentage.

Senior forward Troy Jones and sophomore guard Trey Sumpter each recorded 13 points to lead the Javelinas, who shot 46.7 percent (21-of-45) on the night. Weathers (12) and senior guard Jamar Goodwin (10) also scored double digits.