Ouachita Baptist rocked the nets for 51 first-half points and led by as many as
24 points Saturday night at Bill Vining Arena in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
That was just too much for
Midwestern State to overcome as the Mustangs dropped their second consecutive
game by an 81-77 count to fall to 3-2 on the season.
"We came out and
competed (in the second half), the way we should have at the start of the game,"
MSU coach Nelson Haggerty said. "We played with a lot of intensity and
enthusiasm like they did in the first half."
OBU's Mitchell Austin came
off of the bench to knock down six 3-pointers pushed the first-half lead out to
24 points on three occasions.
The Mustangs put the clamps on the Tigers
in the second half, limiting OBU to 31.6-percent shooting including a 1-of-9
effort from the arc to claw back within four points at the final
buzzer.
Junior point guard Monzaigo Williams scored 10 of his team-high
13 points in the second half while adding 10 assists and four steals to lead a
pack of five MSU players in double figures.
Senior guard Kevin Grayer,
senior forward Corbin Thomas and sophomore guard Keith Spellman had 12 points
each while junior forward Eddie D'Haiti 10 points and six rebounds.
"When
you spot a team 20 points, it's very hard to come back, especially on the road,"
Haggerty said. "We're trying to identify who we are going to be as a basketball
team. I hope we took a step forward tonight. We have to find ourselves and we
have to find our identity. We just have to get there."
Mitchell finished
with a game-high 20 points with two coming after halftime. Micah Delph added 14
points, six assists and five rebounds while Colt Fason had 11
points.
Ouachita Baptist moved to 3-1 on the season.
Midwestern
State opens Lone Star Conference play Thursday night at Incarnate Word before
taking on Texas A&M-Kingsville Saturday on the road.
