With an 86-74 win over #15 Tarleton State Thursday night, UT Permian Basin men's basketball picked up its second win of the season over the top-ranked team in the South Central Region and put itself in a position to clinch at least a share of the Lone Star Conference Championship.

UTPB came out blazing to open the game Thursday, hitting its first four 3-pointers, two by Johnnie Lacy and one each from James McPherson and Zeldric King to lead by as many as 14 points on a pair of free throws by Daeshon Francis 20-6 through the first seven and a half minutes.

A prolonged shooting slump by the Falcons spanning over six minutes without a field goal brought the Texans back into the game, and Tarleton State claimed its first lead of the night after Romond Jenkins scored eight of 10 points for TSU to go ahead 26-24.

Tarleton State led by as many as five points late in the first on a three from Deshawn Riddick, but Sammy Allen hit a basket and free throw to pull within three. The junior forward also beat the buzzer with a second left on a layup to close the gap within a point before halftime to trail 36-35.

The teams seemed to trade shots in the first five minutes after halftime, with Tarleton State hitting 2-of-3 from three on its first three possessions and the Falcons scoring seven points on three consecutive possessions to tie the game at 42-42.

McPherson's second and third 3-pointers of the second half helped UTPB stretch its advantage out to an eight point, 55-47 lead, and the Falcons controlled the rest of the second half and always had an answer to any Tarleton State points.

Renard Thomas helped the Falcons close out the night, starting a 10-point run with a three at 7:44 to go ahead by nine, and a layup from Allen, two at the line from Francis followed by a three from the team's leading scorer with 4:53 remaining put the Falcons ahead 74-58.

The Falcons dominated the Texans in the paint, out-rebounding Tarleton State 47-25. Sammy Allen had a career night for the Falcons, scoring 17 points while tying his season best of 20 rebounds. 

Johnnie Lacy carried the Falcons at the free throw line, sinking all 10 of hits attempts to lead the Falcons with 18 points and a game-high eight assists. McPherson added 17 points on four 3-pointers, and Francis added 16 points by hitting 9-10 free throws as UTPB shot collectively 29-35 (83 percent) from the stripe.

The turnover battle told the story Thursday night as UTPB turned over possession 16 times in the first half. The Falcons cut that to eight in the second half, half of those coming in the final few minutes.

Ridell Camidge was on fire from deep for the Texans, leading Tarleton State with 22 points on 6-13 shooting from the 3-point line. Jenkins added 15 points and 11 rebounds on 5-7 shooting from the floor.

The Falcons can clinch a share or outright possession of the Lone Star Conference regular season championship Saturday afternoon when UTPB closes out the regular season at 4 p.m. against Texas A&M - Commerce. The win tonight guarantees the Falcons will finish no lower than second in the regular season, and at least a share of the conference crown will send the Falcons to the 2017 Lone Star Conference Championships with the number-one overall seed. UTPB will also open play at the LSC Championships next Thursday at either 2:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.