ODESSA, Texas – Keyon Craddock's pair of free throws with 0:14 left in the game gave the UT Permian Basin men's basketball game a three-point lead and Midwestern State's desperation three-point attempt at the buzzer was no good preserving a 79-76 victory for the Falcons on Saturday evening.

UTPB (10-9, 4-6 Lone Star) trailed 11-10 with 15:34 left in the first half when MSU's Jermane Carter buried a pair of free throws, but the Falcons soared out to a 15-0 run to go up 25-11 in a span of 2:54 thanks to some brilliant play on offense and a defensive effort that held the Mustangs to just three shot attempts and forced a couple turnovers.  UTPB's Jalen King got the run started with a layup followed by consecutive dunks with the second being off an alley-oop from Alvarez Powell.

Daniel Moody's pair of threes were sandwiched around an Azariah Seay three to close out the run. D'Mari Wiltz collected assists on all three treys.

MSU (6-9, 4-6 Lone Star) battled throughout the first half, but UTPB was able to convert on more attempts and inched out to as much as a 43-23 lead when King made a turnaround jumper and converted the and-one free throw after being fouled with 1:35 left in the first half.
King ended the first half with 14 points as the Falcons went into the locker room up 43-27.

MSU had tallied the final four points of the first half that helped get a little momentum that would carry over into the second half where the Mustangs added nine of the next 11 points scored to cut the UTPB lead down to 45-36. The overall run total was 13-2 in favor of MSU spanning 3:14 of game action.

UTPB's DaJuan Jones drilled a long range three ending the Mustangs run and quietening the bench for as long as possible.

Both teams would break into additional mini runs before MSU would make one final push down 74-61 when Jones buried a three with 3:24 left in the game.

A 15-3 run from the Mustangs from the 3:07 mark down 0:23 left in the game drew MSU to within 77-76 setting up Craddock's heroics at the line and the missed three from Gibson.

King would finish the game as UTPB's leading scorer with 24 points to go along with eight rebounds, which was also a team-best performance.

Seay and Jones turned in double figures each with Seay adding 18 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists while Jones chipped in seven assists, two rebounds and a steal.

 
UP NEXT
The Falcons will begin a road weekend series beginning on Thursday with a contest in Austin against St. Edward's. The tip with begin at 7:30 p.m. CST.  Download the UTPB Athletics App to follow the team all season long.