A strong second half by seniors Daeshon Francis and James McPherson propelled the #11 UT – Permian Basin to a 74-67 victory over Tarleton State in Odessa. 

Francis dropped 26 points, shooting 8-8 from the free throw line and 13 points in the second half, while James McPherson scored 19 points with nine rebounds including four key three-pointers in the second half.

Tarleton came out hot hitting 7-12 on threes to grab a 31-19 lead.  The Falcons never faltered with Andres Villa providing a spark scoring six off the bench before James McPherson closed the gap with back to back buckets.  The Falcon defense locked down Tarleton going on a 17-2 run over the last 7:30 of the first half to turn a 31-19 TSU advantage into a 36-33 lead.

Both teams traded baskets until Garrett Baggett hit a three to give the Falcons a lead that they wouldn't relinquish over the final 16:24.  McPherson brought the house down hitting three-pointers on three consecutive possessions to balloon the lead 60-47 forcing Tarleton to burn a time-out. 

Anthony Davis grabbed some momentum back with a three but Francis converted an acrobatic lay-up with a foul to snatch it right back.  Josh Hawley tried to keep Tarleton in the game with some three-pointers of his own but Francis was perfect down the stretch on his free throws.

Corinthian Ramsey led Tarleton in scoring with 21 hitting five three-pointers while Hawley added 14 points with 11 rebounds.  Sammy Allen added a team-high 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Falcons.

UTPB plays its next game at home against Western New Mexico on Thursday night followed by a home contest Saturday afternoon against Eastern New Mexico.