The Mustangs faced defeat despite a promising start against the Falcons.

MSU’s men’s basketball is now 5-6 in conference play after losing 57-62 against UT Permian Basin Saturday afternoon.

The Mustangs started off strong in the first half, gaining an eight point lead over UTPB, but were stunned by a Falcon comeback, ending the first period with the Maroon and Gold down 33-34.

The second half found Midwestern chasing to reclaim its lead on UTPB, but the Maroon and Gold did not deliver, ending the game at a stinging 57-62.

The Mustangs scored 50% of shots in the second half compared to the first period, where the score percentage rate dropped from 40% to 31%. MSU had a scored 53% of 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes, but went down to only 15% in the second half.

The largest gap came in the free-throw standings, where the Falcons dominated with an 80% accuracy rate, crushing the Mustangs’s 53%.

Business finance junior Will Shepherd ended with a game-high of 19 points for the Mustangs, followed up by UTPB’s #01 Matthews Alex with 17 points.

#12 marketing sophomore Amaechi Chukwu broke through with a season-high of 13 rebounds, setting up the Mustangs at an overall 38-35 board lead against the Falcons, while Shepherd pulled off a season-best in 3-pointers, ending the game with a total of five scores beyond the three-point line.

The Mustangs will now be heading off into the second half of their season with 11 more games to go before the Lone-Star Conference Postseason Tournament. As of now, the Midwestern Mustangs are sitting in seventh place in the West Division but need to climb up to at least fourth place to make it to the conference tournament running March 7-10.

The Maroon and Gold will next return to Wichita Falls Feb. 8 against Eastern New Mexico.