UT Permian Basin men's basketball won its eighth straight game and improved to 9-0 at home Saturday afternoon with a 77-73 win over West Texas A&M at the UTPB Gym.

The Falcons never trailed in the game and raced out to an 8-0 lead after a pair of layups by Andres Villa and Deshaun Francis.

UTPB went ahead 20-9 with 10:57 in the first half when Francis turned a pair of turnovers into fast-break dunks.

The Falcons led by as many as 14 late in the first as another Francis slam capped a 7-1 run, and UTPB took a 39-27 lead into halftime.

The Buffaloes opened the second half on a 10-3 run, cutting the UTPB advantage to five. The Falcons held a comfortable lead for most of the second half, leading 53-40 after a 9-2 run, but West Texas A&M kept the game close.

Within two possessions over the final minutes, a 3-pointer by Eric Mosley pulled WTAMU within three at 73-70 and 14 seconds on the clock, but Johnnie Lacy sunk a pair to push the lead back out to five.

Another West Texas A&M three from Jordan Evans three seconds later made it a two-point game, but Lacy came through again at the line, sinking both to lock up the four-point win.

Francis carried the Falcons for much of the game, leading UTPB with 25 points on 10-16 shooting to go with eight rebounds.

James McPherson was a perfect 13-13 from the line for the Falcons, including getting fouled three different times on 3-point attempts to add 16 points on the day.

Lacy ended the game with 12 points, hitting a pair from 3-point range with seven rebounds, and Sammy Allen grabbed a team-best 12 boards.

David Chavlovich led all players in the game with 28 points and six 3-pointers.

UTPB stays home this week, looking to even the score with Cameron and Midwestern State after falling to both teams on the road a month ago. Tip-off against Midwestern State is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday night.