TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler men's basketball put together a valiant effort on Friday night inside the HPC, but Midwestern State was able to lock down the win down the stretch and claim the 62-52 win.
Dontrell Hewlett,
Jadin Penigar, and
Sam Phipps combined for 39 points in the contest to lead the offensive charge.
It was a bumpy start for the Patriots, as Hewlett and
Hudson Anderson opened the scoring with a pair of layups to take a 4-0 lead. However, the Patriots would go ice cold from the floor, allowing Midwestern State to go on a 23-0 run over the next 9:06 of gametime.
That run was answered by the Patriots with a 17-6 run of their own, as
Jadin Penigar caught fire just as the Patriots badly needed it. He scored 11 points in the run on his own while the Patriots held the Mustangs to just 2-for-13 from the floor. That run cut the lead down to just eight points, but a buzzer beating three pointer that bounced around the rim several times before falling in gave the Mustangs an 11 point advantage at the halftime break.
That run to close the first half sparked the Patriots back to life, and they rolled out to a 16-7 run over the first 6:45 of the second half to cut the lead all the way down to just two points.
Nikolas Gustavson connected on a pair of three pointers and
Sam Phipps and Hewlett each scored four points.
Just a few minutes later, Phipps connected on a thunderous putback duck and Penigar added a tough layup to tie the game back up at 44-44 with 7:57 left in the contest. The Mustangs battled back with a 12-2 run over just 3:01 of gametime to run their lead back to 10, but
Dontrell Hewlett went on a 6-0 run by himself that included a pair of tough finishes in the paint to bring it back down to just four. However, that is as close as the Patriots would get, as the Mustangs connected on a three pointer and held off the Patriots late attack in order to take the 10 point win.
Sam Phipps added 13 rebounds to his 10 points, and Hewlett added 10 boards to his 16 points as each recorded a double double. Phipps also added three blocks and two steals while Hewlett picked up four assists.
