STEPHENVILLE, Texas -- Jalin Brown certainly brought the energy playing against his former school Thursday night at Wisdom Gym.
 
With the sophomore in the lineup, the Mustangs outscored Tarleton State by five. Without him, the Texans posted big runs in each half to claim a 70-63 win.
 
"JB was completely locked in and excited for this game tonight," MSU coach Justin Leslie said. "He did a very nice job making post moves and rebounded at a high level. Having him out of the game hurt.
 
Brown fouled out in just 10 minutes on the floor with four points and five rebounds.
 
Midwestern State constructed a seven-point lead at 20-13 before Brown was forced to the bench with his third personal foul with 9:23 remaining in the first half.
 
Following Brown's departure, the Texans used a 21-6 run over the remainder of the half to take a 34-26 lead into the half.
 
Midwestern State opened the second half with a 3-point barrage with one each from Darius Thompson and D'monta Harris before Trae Jones connected on consecutive treys to pull within a single point at 45-44 with 13:12 to play.
 
But Tarleton ran off the next 11 points to re-establish an 11-point lead as the Mustangs would get no closer than four points in the final two minutes.
 
"It came down to paint touches," Leslie said. "We had 14 paint touches in the first 10 minutes of the first half and only four in the final 10 minutes of the second half when they went on their run."
 
Harris completed his fourth double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Mustangs, while Jones buried four 3-pointers to finish with 14.
 
Thompson added 12 and five rebounds for the Mustangs.
 
Zach Naylor tallied 16 points to lead the Texans to join Randall Broddie (13), Isaiah Range (11) and Devin Bethely (10) in double figures.
 
Clashon Gaffney posted a huge night on the defensive end for the Texans with nine points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots.
 
"Clashon had an exceptional night," Leslie said. "He changed the game, but we didn't want our 5-10 and 6-foot guys challenging him in the paint. He was very quick off of the floor."
 
Midwestern State takes on Dallas Baptist Saturday afternoon at Burg Center. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.