THE RUNDOWN
WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Arkansas-Fort Smith's Tyler Williams proved to be a thorn in the side of Midwestern State all evening. The guard torched the Mustangs from deep to the tune of five triples, including the game winner with eight seconds to play to lift the Lions to a 64-63 win.
 
UAFS finished 10-of-25 from beyond the arc, including eight makes in the first half. The Lions went 2-for-9 on shots inside the arc in the first half.
 
MSU Texas shored up its 3-point defense in the second half, holding the Lions to 20 percent shooting from deep. Unfortunately, one of the two second half makes proved to be the difference maker.
 
Junior guard Josh Wallace led the Mustangs with 16 points. Freshman Trae Jones buried a pair of threes and added 10 points while junior Gilbert Thomas, Jr., led all players with 10 boards.
 
Down two with 27 seconds to play, junior guard Elijah Lee stepped into a three after Thomas collected an offensive rebound. The Pepperdine transfer hit nothing but twine to give the Mustangs the lead, 63-61.
 
Following a timeout, UAFS ran the game clock down to eight seconds before Williams hit the go-ahead triple from the right wing.
 
MSU Texas never got a good look on the final shot to fall to 1-1 on the year.
 
Williams led all players with 19 points. Chris Crawford added 17 for the Lions, including going 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
 
GAME NOTES
- Arkansas-Fort Smith evened the all-time series with the Mustangs, 2-2
- MSU Texas owned a 38-36 edge on the glass and scored 13 second chance points on 10 offensive boards
- The Mustangs went just 60 percent (9-of-15) from the free throw line, compared to 82.4 percent (14-of-17) for the Lions
 
UP NEXT
MSU Texas travels to the Al Kaly Shrine Classic, hosted by Colorado State-Pueblo, on Friday, Nov. 16. Tipoff against the Thunderwolves is set for 8 p.m.