ODESSA, Texas (January 18, 2025) – For the second game in a row, The University of Texas Permian Basin men's basketball team fell in overtime on its home floor in a battle of top-five teams in the Lone Star Conference standings, this time coming up short 80-74 against Midwestern State University.

After shooting just 1-for-7 from the field and scoring just three points in its previous overtime period against Lubbock Christian University, UTPB was held scoreless and was 0-for-5 from the field in overtime against Midwestern State. MSU made just one field goal in overtime, but it was enough as the defense also forced the Falcons into three turnovers.

DJ Armstrong had it going early, hitting three 3-pointers while Dario Domingos added 10 points to help stake the Falcons to an early 18-point lead (23-5) just over eight minutes into the game. UTPB was 10-for-16 from the field (62.5 percent) to that point while MSU was just 1-for-8 (12.5 percent).

An and-one on an ally-oop by Freddie Word to Armstrong made it a 20-point margin (33-13) with 6:12 left in the first half.

The Falcons continued to stroke it from long range as they started the game 5-for-10 from three and led by 18 points again (36-18) after a 3-pointer by Alex Matthews with under four and a half minutes left in the first half.

Despite scoring just two field goals in the first 10 minutes of the game and being outscored 20-8 in the paint in the first half, MSU trailed by a manageable 13 points (38-25) at the break.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by the Mustangs cut it to a nine-point game (46-37) three and a half minutes into the second half, and from there MSU continued to chip away and tied it at 57-57 with five minutes left to play.

UTPB answered the tying-basket by MSU with an offensive rebound and and-one by Domingos, and then Domingos somehow kept his balance and scored another layup to make it 62-57 Falcons with four minutes remaining.

The Mustangs never led in regulation and trailed by eight points heading into the final 10 minutes, but the Falcons were coming off a game on Thursday in which they had lost a 10-point lead and lost in overtime.

A layup by Matthews gave the Falcons a 71-67 lead entering the final minute of regulation, and then a layup by Word for his first made field goal of the game made it a six-point lead (73-67) with only 30 seconds left to play.

Unfortunately for the Falcons, the Mustangs were relentless down the stretch, and after a missed free throw by UTPB left the door open and was followed a long 3-pointer by Mason Gibson to make it 74-72 with 11 seconds left, MSU pressured the inbounds pass from UTPB and forced a turnover to get the ball back with only six seconds left.

That led to a game-tying layup by Pierre Sanders, and then UTPB threw it the length of the floor to try and earn the win on a buzzer-beater, but Bryceson Burns' layup attempt just rolled off the rim.

The two teams combined to miss the first five shots of the overtime period before MSU got on the board two minutes in with a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Will Shepherd, giving the Mustangs their first lead of the game. Shepherd would add a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left to put the game out of reach.

In addition to tying the game at the end of regulation, Sanders finished with 32 points for the Mustangs while Shepherd scored 17 points. Gibson, the fifth-leading scorer in the Lone Star Conference coming into the game (16.7 ppg), was held to single digits (4 pts) for just the second time on the season.

For UTPB, Armstrong had 17 points on 4-for-6 shooting from three in the first half before sinking two late 3-pointers in the second half and finishing with 23 points. His six makes from long range tied a season-high.

Domingos shot an ultra-efficient 9-for-10 from the floor and scored 21 points to go along with eight rebounds, and Matthews recorded his fourth double-double in the last six games with 10 points and 13 boards.

Despite not making a field goal until the final minute of regulation, Word contributed with four points, five rebounds and seven assists.

Both teams shot 52 percent from the field in the second half, but six second-half 3-pointers by the Mustangs plus a 3-pointer for the first points of the overtime period contributed to the difference. MSU came into the game making the second-most 3-point shots per game in the LSC with 9.3 conversions on 24.4 attempts.

In addition, UTPB's 13 turnovers contributed to an 18-11 advantage in points off turnovers for the Mustangs, who also outrebounded the Falcons 15-9 on the offensive glass and led 14-9 on second chance points.

UTPB falls to 12-5 overall and 8-3 in the LSC while MSU, which is receiving votes in the NABC and D2CSC Polls and is ranked No. 4 in the D2CSC South Central Regional rankings, improves to 12-4 and 7-3. UTPB, which is ranked No. 6 in the region, remains in first place in the West Division with five wins (5-2), one more win than the next four teams.

Next up for the Falcons is St. Edward's University with tip-off from Austin, Texas, set for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 23.