There is a reason why Midwestern State’s men’s basketball team hasn’t lost in 39 games at D.L. Ligon Coliseum in Wichita Falls. On Jan. 29 the #20 ranked WTAMU men’s basketball team found out that reason the hard way.

Despite a furious fight back in the second half, it wasn’t enough as the Buffs fell 69-54 to the Mustangs.

WT came out early and kept pace with the high-flying Mustangs. At the 18:37 mark the game was tied at 4-4. Unfortunately, that was about as good as it got for the Buffs in the contest.

MSU took a 6-4 lead at the 18:13 mark of the first half. Just under four minutes later it was a 19-9 lead for the Mustangs. The lead grew to as many as 14 points before the Buffs were finally able to cut the lead back down to single digits at 29-22 with 5:29 remaining before halftime. Going into the locker room at the break the Buffs were down 41-28.

When the teams came out for the second half, it looked as though WT might mount a comeback thanks to a couple of early points. But, things quickly went downhill as the Mustangs kicked proceedings into high gear. With 14:50 left in regulation MSU held a 54-32 lead. At the 5:13 mark the Buffs had fought back to get the game back to 61-50. In the end though, Midwestern was just simply too much on the night as they came away with the 69-54 victory.

Leading the scoring on the night for the Buffs was senior LaDarius Hall with a game-high 22 points followed by fellow senior Donnie Kidd with eight points.

WT’s overall record now stands at 16-3 overall with a 3-3 record in LSC play. Midwestern improves to 16-4 overall and 4-2 in LSC play. The Buffs will now prepare for the long journey down to Kingsville to take on Texas A&M Kingsville on Feb. 2. Tip-off from the Steinke Center is set for 8 p.m.

WT’s overall record now stands at 16-3 overall with a 3-3 record in LSC play.