WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Seniors Darius Thompson and D'monta Harris delivered double-doubles, while Evan McCarthy finished with a flourish Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
 
But it wasn't enough to propel Midwestern State to its first victory of the Justin Leslie era as Texas Wesleyan held off the Mustangs 70-66 in front of 1,272 fans.
 
Midwestern hits the road to face Central Oklahoma Wednesday night at Hamilton Fieldhouse. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
Thompson tallied a team-high 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Harris finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds as the duo led the Mustangs back from a 12-point deficit at the end of the first half.
 
Then McCarthy, a true freshman from Mansfield, displayed grit to nearly close the game on his own. He buried a deep triple from the right wing to pull the Mustangs to within 63-61 with 2:12 to play, then drove the right baseline to complete a traditional three-point play to give MSU its only lead of the second half at 66-65 with 46 ticks remaining.
 
But the Mustangs couldn't buy a rebound in the closing moments.
 
Texas Wesleyan snared two offensive board finally converting on a put back by LaMont Simmons with 7 seconds to play to put the Rams back on top, 67-66.
 
Texas Wesleyan's Christian Russell forced a steal on the next possession which resulted in an intentional foul allowing the Rams to sink 3-of-4 free throws in the closing seconds to seal the victory.
 
Akeem White poured in a game-high 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the 4-1 Rams, which played the game as an exhibition game.
 
McCarthy enjoyed his second consecutive game in double digits for the Mustangs finishing with 12 points and four assists.
 
Midwestern State dipped to 0-4 for the first time since the start of the 1990-91 season as the Rams won in D.L. Ligon Coliseum for the first since 1983.