Daeshon Francis's triple-double lead the #9 UT- Permian Basin men's basketball team to a 123-83 victory over Western New Mexico in Odessa.  The triple-double is the second in UTPB men's basketball history, with the first coming just over two weeks ago by Sammy Allen against Arlington Baptist.  The 123 points scored is the third highest point total in school history.

Francis finished the night with 22 points on 9-12 shooting, 10 rebounds and 10 assists before checking out with the game well in hand.  James McPherson added 22 knocking down five three-pointers in the first half while grabbing five rebounds.

UTPB came out on fire in the first half with a 9-0 run started by an Amari Bryant three-pointer and punctuated by a monster dunk by Francis.  Western New Mexico knocked down some early threes to keep within striking distance. 

The score was cut to 32-23 before UTPB caught fire for the rest of the quarter.  UTPB had a stretch where McPherson hit threes on three consecutive possessions followed by a three by Amari Bryant.  Just minutes later Bryant connected on three straight three-pointers to close the half.

In the first half UTPB scored 64 points on 13-19 shooting from three-point range, 68.4 percent, and shot 24-33 total, 72.7 percent.  McPherson shot 7-11 with five threes for 20 points, while Bryant went 5-5 from three-point range for 15 points in the first half.

UTPB cooled in the second half on three-point shooting but shot 13-19, 68.4 percent, from the field.  Francis completed his triple-double and UTPB added another 59 points. 

All 13 Falcons who played scored on the night led by McPherson and Francis each with 22.  Bryant added 18 points on 6-7 from three, Josh Morris had 13 points and seven rebounds, and Garrett Baggett had 11.  Sammy Allen added eight rebounds with four assists.

CJ Vanbeekum scored 25 for Western New Mexico knocking down five three-pointers while Haneef Vaughn-Wilson added 16 in effort. 

UTPB plays Saturday at home against Eastern New Mexico and then heads to Amarillo take on West Texas A&M on the road next Tuesday.