Seven points in the final 37 seconds propelled #13 UT Permian Basin to a thrilling come from behind 79-76 victory over Midwestern State Thursday night in Wichita Falls.

With 25 seconds left and the score 76-74 Sammy Allen got a steal and Daeshon Francis converted on the other end hitting a lay-up and drawing a foul before hitting the foul shot for a 77-76 lead. Allen hit a pair at the line with 10 seconds remaining and the Mustangs missed a 3-pointer with three seconds left.

"We played great team offense tonight," said head coach Andy Newman. "Overall we played really tough. Defense was up and down but to turn over the ball that much (23 times) and still come out with a win was incredible. We showed incredible character to win on the road. Fell behind by nine and never quit and found a way to gut out a tough road win."

Josh Morris led the way for UTPB with 27 points and 11 rebounds while Francis added 24 points including five in the final minute. Allen finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists while also hitting two free throws to seal the game for UTPB with 10 seconds remaining.

It was a struggle in the first half for UTPB committing 10 turnovers and only shooting 1-8 from three-point range. Midwestern could not capitalize only shooting 38.9 percent keeping UTPB in the game. Midwestern led for much of the first half but could not stretch the lead larger than five until late in the half. A jumper by Brandon Neel with 1:50 gave Midwestern the 35-29 lead before Morris made back to back lay-ups to make it a 35-33 Midwestern lead at the half.

Morris started the second half with a pair of lay-ups to retake the lead for UTPB. After a lay-up by Ola Ayodele to tie it, Morris answered with another lay-up scoring 10 consecutive points for UTPB. Amari Bryant connected on a three-pointer to give UTPB a 46-45 lead with 11:41 remaining before Midwestern went on a 12-4 run to put UTPB on the ropes.

Trey Kennedy hit a lay-up to give Midwestern a nine point lead with 6:41 but UTPB fought back. Back to back lay-ups by Allen and Francis and a transition three-pointer by Garrett Baggett got UTPB back in the game and forced a Midwestern time-out. Both teams traded buckets when Morris tipped-in his own missed shot and Renard Thomas followed with a free-throw to give UTPB a 67-66 lead with 3:41 to go.

Midwestern got three-pointers from Kennedy and Logan Hicks to go up 74-70 with 1:13 to play. Morris hit a lay-up before Devante Pullum connected on a pair from the free-throw line to give Midwestern a four point cushion with 43 seconds remaining. Francis converted back to back lay-ups with a free-throw to take the lead. Neel missed a jumper; Allen grabbed the rebound and converted on the ensuing free-throws to steal a huge win on the road.

The heavy lifting was done by Francis, Morris and Allen but Baggett added nine points hitting three three-pointers. Thomas also grabbed four rebounds for UTPB. The team committed 23 turnovers and only forced 11 but shot 52.5 from the field. UTPB also dominated inside winning the rebound battle 47-28 and outscoring Midwestern in the paint by 20.

Neel led Midwestern with 24 points and six rebounds while Kennedy added 19 and connected from three four times. Midwestern was held to 38.6 percent shooting and despite winning the turnover battle only outscored UTPB 17-14 off turnovers.

UTPB heads to Lawton, Oklahoma to take on Cameron Saturday before returning home for the final two home games of the season.