Midwestern St. MSUT 6-9,4-6 Lone Star

Tex. Permian Basin UTPB 10-9,4-6 Lone Star

Midwestern St. MSUT

6-9,4-6 Lone Star

Final

Jan. 14, 2023

Tex. Permian Basin UTPB

10-9,4-6 Lone Star

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Midwestern St. MSUT	27	49	76
Tex. Permian Basin UTPB	43	36	79

Summary
Box Score

Trey Reed / Midwestern State University

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 1/14/2023 6:19:00 PM | Trey Reed / MSU Athletic Communications

Mustangs second-half charge not enough at UT Permian Basin

THE LEAD >>>

ODESSA, Texas -- Midwestern State fell behind by 20 points in the first half, then charged back to within a score late in the second half Saturday afternoon at the Falcon Dome.

But a good look on a 3-pointer from the corner bounced off of the rim allowing UT Permian Basin to survive, 79-76.

HOW IT HAPPENED >>>

UT Permian Basin appeared to have the game under control when DaJuan Jones buried a long 3-pointer to give the Falcons a 71-59 lead with 3:24 to play.

That's when Midwestern State junior Pierre Sanders started to work his wizardry. First, the Hutto native knifed his way through the paint for a layup, then stole the inbound pass for another easy two.

Sanders then produced another steal off of an inbound pass to set up Derrick Ogechi for a 3-pointer from the left wing to pull the Mustangs back to within six at 74-68.

Midwestern State held the Falcons without a field goal the rest of the way, but the Falcons were able to connect on 5-of-6 free throws. That proved to be enough, but barely.

Sanders would hit another jumper with 54 seconds to play to pull MSU to within five points, then Jermane Carter converted a layup and made a steal and a long pass to set up Gibson with a 3-pointer to narrow the deficit to 77-76 with 23 seconds to go.

UTPB's Keyon Craddock hit a pair of free throws with 14 seconds remaining, and Gibson's 3-point look from the corner was short at the buzzer.

UT Permian Basin held its largest lead of the game after Jalen King converted a three-point play with 1:35 left in the first half to give the Falcons a 43-23 advantage.

But the Mustangs shot 60.6 percent as a team in the second half, while outscoring UTPB 49-36 to make a game of it.

LEADERS >>>

- Midwestern State senior Jermane Carter scored a season-high 24 points and completed his sixth double-double of the season with 12 rebounds.
- MSU junior guard Pierre Sanders connected on 7-of-10 shots from the field with two 3-pointers to finish with a season-high 18 points. All five of his career-high in steals came in the second half.
- MSU senior Derrick Ogechi splashed in three 3-pointers and scored each of his 13 points in the final 10 1/2 minutes of the game.
- MSU redshirt-freshman Mason Gibson buried two 3-pointers including a triple with 23 seconds remaining to pull the Mustangs to within a point at 77-76. It was Gibson's sixth game with at least two 3-point makes this season and he has made a 3 in each of his last four games.
- Junior guard Jalen King poured in 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds to lead UT Permian Basin.
- Senior guard Azariah Seay drilled four 3-pointers closing the game with 18 points and six rebounds before fouling out in 33 minutes.

GAME NOTES >>>

- Midwestern State fell to 3-7 in road games this season. The Mustangs dropped to 8-9 on the season and 5-6 in Lone Star Conference play.
- MSU fell to 2-2 in games in which it shoots 50 percent or better as a team.
- The Mustangs connected on 14-of-23 free throws against UT Permian Basin. MSU has attempted at least 20 free throws in each of its last three games for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
- MSU dropped to 2-6 against UTPB all time at the Falcon Dome. The Mustangs had won in their last two trips to Odessa.
- UT Permian Basin leveled its record during its current home stand by beating Cameron and Midwestern State over the weekend after falling to Lubbock Christian and West Texas A&M last week. The Falcons own a 5-3 record on their home floor.