FRISCO, Texas – Midwestern State's woes at the free throw line in the first half snowballed in the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament semifinals Saturday afternoon at Comerica Center.
The Mustangs misfired on 10-of-11 free throws before halftime and West Texas A&M took advantage to build a commanding 18-point deficit. That lead snowballed into an 87-55 win for the Buffs, who advanced to the LSC finals for the fifth straight year.
"One of the things that we always address with our team is to stay in character and be about our fundamentals. When we face adversity, we need to lean on those fundamentals," MSU coach
Justin Leslie said. "When they made that run, we missed a couple of shots and made a couple of mistakes. We started pressing and making some uncharacteristic decisions and shots. We put ourselves in a bad position defensively. When you allow West Texas to make shots, get in a rhythm and get on a roll, you put yourself in a bad spot."
Midwestern State finished the game going 4-of-17 from the charity stripe (23.5 percent) after connecting on 22-of-25 free throws in Thursday's quarterfinal win over Dallas Baptist.
West Texas A&M's Hayden Blankley accounted for seven points of the Buffs' 11-0 run midway through the first half as WT pushed its lead to 28-15 at the 9:47 mark.
The lead never slipped below double figures for the remainder of the game reaching a game-high 32 points on Addison Wallace's transition 3-pointer with 30 seconds to play.
Sophomore
Pierre Sanders paced the Mustangs with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting with three 3-pointers, while senior
Jermane Carter added nine points.
The loss snaps MSU's five-game winning streak, but does nothing to tarnish a fantastic season ending run for the Mustangs.
Midwestern State won 10-of-12 games coming into the semifinal round and finishes the year with a 16-15 record. A winning season appeared unlikely when the Mustangs dropped to 6-12 following a loss at Dallas Baptist on Jan. 22.
MSU claimed its first LSC Postseason Tournament win Tuesday night over UT Tyler at D.L. Ligon Coliseum before advancing past Dallas Baptist on Thursday. The wins were the first postseason victories of any kind for the Mustangs since 2016.
Midwestern State returns 10 of 12 letter winners in 2022-23 along with the return of 2020-21 starter
Derrick Ogechi.
West Texas A&M (27-6) faces either Texas A&M-Kingsville or Lubbock Christian in the LSC Postseason Tournament Championship game Sunday at Comerica Center. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
