WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- After a pair of one-point losses and five trips to the Burg Center, Midwestern State finally had Dallas Baptist where it wanted it Tuesday night.

That was under pressure and in throes of the dome at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

And it worked like a charm as the Mustangs rolled to a solid 75-61 win to snap a six-game losing streak to DBU.

"It's exciting," MSU coach Justin Leslie said. "I am really proud of this performance and this victory. It's a good one for our program. We owe them a couple."

It was Midwestern State's first win over Patriots since the then-Indians won 86-69 in Dallas on Feb. 24, 1990.

The Mustangs have suddenly won four out of five and five of the last seven to move to 10-13 on the season and 6-5 in Lone Star Conference play. All with a growing defensive identity. 

"We defended at a high level tonight," Leslie said. "We let Austin Garner get loose in the first half. Had he not done that, it might have been even more impressive."

Midwestern State guard tandem of Terrell Wilson and Pierre Sanders scored a team-high 19 points, but it was their job defending DBU fifth-year guard Julian Miranda that impacted the game in a bigger way.

"Julian Miranda is a very good player who came putting up a 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio," Leslie said. "Putting him in tough situations tonight was a really big key for us. He came out and got four assists and six turnovers. That was really instrumental in slowing down their attack and not allowing him to get his teammates involved for easy looks."

That allowed Midwestern to hold the Patriots to their lowest scoring output of the season. The Mustangs also limited DBU to a 38.6 percent shooting night which was the lowest since the Patriots started a run of winning nine of 10 games including a victory over No. 1 Lubbock Christian last week.

"We're really coming along on the defensive side of the ball," Leslie said. "Tonight, I thought we were much better on the ball. We forced some turnovers which was very good for us."

Midwestern State faced a tipping point late in the first half after Garner fueled a 16-8 run with 11 of his 14 first-half points including three 3-pointers before Cameron Kahn hit layup to give DBU a 30-21 lead with 3:31 left before halftime.

Wilson and Sanders responded to lead a 13-2 run to close the half as the Mustangs took a 34-32 lead.

"I am on the guards late in the game to make sure they are managing what happens out there and making good decisions," Leslie said. "There is so much that goes into being a good guard at this level. I have been on Pierre and Terrell about managing that. They did a really nice job in those stretches of just keeping us in character and doing what we do. They made really good decisions tonight and that reflected in the result."

Garner scored just four points to finish with a team-high 18 for the Patriots.

Midwestern State used a 12-0 run early in the second half to push the advantage to 46-48 after Amaechi Chukwu converted the last of three consecutive layups with 14:52 to play.

Dallas Baptist battled back within a possession on three occasions before closed with a 12-2 run over the last four minutes to seal the victory.

Chukwu finished off his second collegiate double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while senior Jermane Carter battled his way to 11 points and nine rebounds.

Senior Jalin Brown also delivered a strong effort with 10 points and eight rebounds as all five MSU starter landed in double digits.

Midwestern State welcomes Western New Mexico to D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Thursday night. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
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