CANYON, Texas -- Senior Pierre Sanders hit a pair of tough baskets in the final minute to lead Midwestern State to a 70-69 win over No. 13-ranked West Texas A&M Friday night at First United Bank Center.

It was the fourth consecutive win for the Mustangs, who claimed their first victory in Canyon since 2016. It was also MSU's first road win over a nationally ranked squad since it took down No. 10-ranked Tarleton State on January 14, 2015 in Stephenville.

And, according to coach Justin Leslie, his team wasn't even playing to its full potential.

"We've been practicing so well," he said. "These guys have been working so hard. We didn't play a great game tonight."

West Texas A&M jumped out to a 20-7 lead at the 12:20 mark of the first half and took an eight-point lead into halftime.

Then, the Mustangs used experience to turn up the pressure, outscoring WT 49-40 in the second half.

"We just came out tough in the second half. We were physical. We were limiting them to one shot," Leslie said. "They couldn't get to their spots. Once we did that and got them on their heels a little bit, then we just started getting to our spots a lot better."

Sanders scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the second half, including eight points over the last 2 1/2 minutes.

The Hutto, Texas, native buried a triple from straight away to knot the game at 63-63 with 2:35 to go, then pushed the Mustangs in front with a driving layup with 48 seconds remaining.

West Texas A&M's Nicholas Jett answered with a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Buffs a 69-68 edge just eight seconds later.

Sanders added the game winner on his patented turnaround-around jumper with 10 seconds remaining, then made a steal on a crucial in-bound pass with four seconds left to seal the victory.

"We had a lot of talk before the game about just being more veteran," Leslie said. "(West Texas A&M) is really good. It was just veteran decisions highlighted by Pierre's leadership down the stretch. That pulled us through."

Midwestern State's zone defense forced West Texas A&M into a half-court game as the Buffs managed just 14 points in the paint, three second-chance points, and just five transition points. WT was also limited to 11 trips to the charity stripe and was outscored by nine points in the second half despite shooting 54.2 percent from the field.

Junior Mason Gibson scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half, while senior forward Reggie Hill pitched in 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.

Noah Pagotto paced West Texas A&M with 15 points, while Amamed Mohammed scored 13 points.

Midwestern State improved to 9-2 and is off to its best start since the 2015-16 squad rolled out ot a 16-1 mark. The Mustangs improved to 4-1 in Lone Star Conference play.

MSU also snapped WT's nine-game home court winning streak by handing the Buffs their first loss since Lubbock Christian on 72-67 on March 2, 2024. West Texas A&M won the first six games this season at First United Bank Center.

The Buffs fell to 9-3 overall and 4-2 against the LSC.

Notables

>> Midwestern State claimed its first win in Canyon since beating WT 74-65 on January 6, 2016 and snapped a seven-game slide at First United Bank Center.
>> The victory was MSU's first road win against a team ranked in the NABC Top 25 since taking down No. 10-ranked Tarleton State, 78-76, on January 14, 2015.
>> Midwestern State's last overall win against a nationally ranked team was an 88-79 victory over No. 19 Angelo State in double overtime on January 18, 2014 at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
>> West Texas A&M averages 83.4 points per game, but has been held to fewer than 70 points in each of its last four games.
>> The Buffs connected on a season-high 13 3-pointers.
>> Midwestern State shot 42.9 percent (39-for-91) from the 3-point arc over the last four games.
>> MSU improved to 7-0 when it commits fewer than 13 turnovers. The Mustangs committed 11 miscues against West Texas A&M.
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