ODESSA, Texas (January 30, 2025) – In its return to Lone Star Conference West Division action, The University of Texas Permian Basin men's basketball team delivered two 20-point performances and a 19-point double-double as the Falcons moved one-step closer to the Lone Star Conference playoffs with an 83-66 home victory over Western New Mexico University.

Alex Matthews scored 20 points on 7-for-16 shooting from the field and 2-for-2 shooting from three, all while adding nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Off the bench, Sharrod Taylor matched the game-high of 20 points on 50 percent shooting (6-12) from the field, a 4-for-10 mark from three, and a perfect 4-for-4 game at the free throw line. He also added five rebounds and three assists.

After finishing with 30 points and 11 rebounds in the first game at WNMU earlier this season, Dario Domingos ended Thursday's matchup with 19 points, 14 rebounds and two steals while shooting 60 percent (6-10) from the field and 7-for-8 from the free throw line.

Maison Adeleye matched Taylor with a 4-for-4 performance from the free throw line and scored seven points while Freddie Word would contribute with eight rebounds and five assists.

As a team, UTPB shot 20-for-25 (80 percent) from the free throw line, its highest percentage of the season in conference play, while WNMU was just 10-for-17 (58.8 percent).

In addition, the Falcons started the game by making five of their first six 3-point attempts, including 2-for-2 starts by Matthews and Taylor, and were 6-for-12 from 3-point range in the first half. UTPB finished 11-for-27 (40.7 percent) for the game while the Mustangs were 6-for-19 (31.6 percent) from long range.

Bryceson Burns added a 3-pointer to make it a 6-for-8 start from three for the Falcons and make it a nine-point lead (31-22) with eight and half minutes to go in the first half.

WNMU did start 4-for-8 from three itself but finished 5-for-11 in the first half, and was just 3-for-8 (37.5 percent) from the free throw line while the Falcons made 13 of their 14 free throws (92.9 percent) in the opening 20 minutes.

Adeleye, Taylor and Domingos were each 4-for-4 from the free line at the break while UTPB held a 17-0 lead on bench points.

Early in the second half, a stretch of three straight 3-pointers by the Falcons, two by Taylor and the final one by DJ Armstrong, made it a 13-point UTPB lead (60-47), and later on a big tip-dunk by Domingos made it a 20-point margin (69-49) with under 10 minutes remaining.

WNMU began the second half shooting just 4-for-20 (20 percent) from the field and 0-for-3 from three while the Falcons made four 3-pointers in the first six minutes of the period to pull away.

In the end, it was a strong defensive effort by UTPB in the second half that made the difference as the Falcons held the Mustangs to just 26.47 percent shooting in the period to go along with a 1-for-8 mark (12.50 percent) from three. The Falcons were able to earn the win despite shooting their lowest field goal percentage (37.1 percent) of the season.

"I thought we guarded better in the second half," spoke Head Coach Kyle Tolin. "We did some positive things, but need to continue to get better."

The Falcons also took care of the basketball, turning it over just seven times and leading 16-3 on points off turnovers.

Behind the efforts of Taylor and Burns (5 points), UTPB outscored WNMU 25-2 in bench points.

Lastly, UTPB matched its season-high in rebounds (47) and had 21 offensive rebounds.

With its fourth-straight win against WNMU (4-17 overall, 3-11 LSC), UTPB improves to 14-6 overall, 10-4 in the conference, and remains in first place in the West Division with a record of 6-2.

Next up for UTPB is Sul Ross State University at 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 1, inside the Falcon Dome.