UT Permian Basin men's basketball pulled away late in the second half, winning its first ever Lone Star Conference game 94-79 over Eastern New Mexico Thursday night in the UTPB Gym.

UTPB led by ten on a James McPherson basket at 7:40 for a 24-14 advantage and went up by as many as 12 on a Zeldric King 3-pointer a minute later.

The Falcons saw their lead disappear when ENMU made five straight shot attempts, taking the 34-33 lead on a fast-break layup off of a turnover with 2:51 remaining in the first.

UTPB rallied to score the next eight points and ended the half with a 44-36 half lead.

Eastern New Mexico again cut into UTPB lead in the second half, going ahead 47-46 after a pair of fast-break scores in transition. A layup off of a blocked shot gave the Greyhounds a 52-50 lead with over 15 minutes remaining, but the two-point cushion was as far ahead as back-to-back threes from Steven Powell and Johnnie Lacy a few minutes later had the Falcons ahead 60-52.

UTPB pulled away down the stretch after ENMU took its final lead of the game at 63-62 with 8:17 remaining, outscoring the Greyhounds 32-16 in the final eight minutes.

UTPB connected on 81 percent of its attempts from the line, hitting 30-37 on the night from the charity stripe. 

Lacy led all Falcons with 22 points, hitting 12-13 at the line with seven rebounds. Daeshon Francis added 18 points and 10 rebounds on 4-6 from the field with 10-12 at the line. McPherson ended the night with 14 points and King scored 11 on a 3-4 evening beyond the 3-point line.

UTPB continues conference play this Saturday, taking on Western New Mexico at home at 4 p.m.