WICHITA FALLS, Texas (December 5, 2025) – The University of Texas Permian Basin men's basketball team put together a strong offense effort, but was unable to earn its first Lone Star Conference win of the season as the Falcons never led in the contest and fell by 10 points, 96-86, at Midwestern State University.

UTPB made just three of its first 12 shots and trailed 27-9 after a steal and layup by MSU's Terrence Ramirez just over eight minutes into the game, but battled back to make it a 10-point game at halftime (47-37).

The Falcons took 14 less shots than the Mustangs in the first half, but made up for it by going 11-for-12 (91.7 percent) from the free throw line. MSU also turned a 12-5 advantage on the offensive glass into a 10-point lead (16-6) on second chance points.

UTPB opened the second half with a 3-pointer by Kainan Thomas and a layup by Tash Lunday to pull within five (47-42) less than a minute in, and then two free throws by Lunday made it 48-44 less than a minute later.

However, UTPB missed its next five shots as MSU made three straight shots and went on a 7-0 run over the next two minutes, going back up by double digits (55-44).

Lunday tried to keep UTPB in it with a pair of layups, the second of which made it a seven-point game (58-51) five and a half minutes into the second half.

Back-to-back dunks by Tehshaundre Cole made it a 12-point game (71-59) approaching the 10-minute mark, but the Falcons would continue to hang around and cut their 12-point deficit in half (73-67) with a 3-pointer by Bryceson Burns with nine minutes left to play.

An impressive finish on a layup by Rashad Kee made it 78-71 with seven minutes left, but it came in between back-to-back 3-pointers for MSU to get the lead back to double digits (81-71).

The Mustangs were shooting a very impressive 11-for-14 (78.6 percent) from the field and were 3-for-4 from three with a 12-point lead (85-71) and just under six minutes remaining.

A back-breaking second chance 3-pointer by Ramirez after a tap-out by Jonathan Jackson made it a 15-point lead (88-73) for the Mustangs with five minutes left.

MSU would finish with a 17-10 edge on the offensive glass and a nine-point advantage (24-15) on second chance points. The Mustangs also outrebounded the Falcons by 12 overall (38-26) as UTPB was held below 30 boards for the second game in a row and was also held to single-digit assists for the second game in a row.

Both teams were hot offensively in the second half with 49 points apiece, but MSU was too strong, shooting 62.5 percent while making four of its first five 3-pointers and finishing 5-for-7 from three (71.4 percent) in the period. In addition, both teams finished shooting at least 50 percent both from the field and from three for the game, but MSU finished with 10 more field goal attempts, eight more 3-pointers, and made five more 3-pointers. It was UTPB's second game this season shooting 50 percent or better both from the floor and from three, but it was also its second straight game to open up Lone Star Conference play allowing its opponent to shoot over 50 percent from the field while grabbing 38 rebounds.

Both teams were in the bonus only seven minutes into the second half and combined for 36 free throws in the period. UTPB finished with 31 attempts from the line, its fourth game this season with at least 31 free throws, while both teams shot over 80 percent from the charity stripe. UTPB's 26 makes from the line were its most since the season opener (27).

Lunday was the Falcons' leading scorer with 24 points while Kee added 20 more for a new season-high. Lunday shot 50 percent (7-14) from the field and was 10-for-11 from the free throw line. He has scored at least 24 points in three of UTPB's first eight games of the season, and has made double-digit free throws in two of the last three games. Kee was somehow more efficient, shooting 7-for-11 from the field and going a perfect 6-for-6 at the line.

For MSU, Ramirez had 14 points at the half and led all players with 26 points. Ramirez was one of two Mustangs with four made 3-pointers in the game and added a game-high eight assists. Behind him was Charles McClennahan Jr. with 24 points and a game-high eight rebounds.

With the loss, UTPB falls to 3-5 overall and 0-2 in the Lone Star Conference while MSU improves to 4-3 and 2-0. MSU, which was picked No. 8 in the LSC Preseason Poll, one spot ahead of the Falcons, also defeated nationally-recognized Angelo State University 77-70 in its conference opener on Wednesday.

Next up, UTPB will return home next week to host its two first home conference games of the season against Texas A&M University-Kingsville at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 11, and Texas A&M International University at 3 p.m. on Saturday, December 13.