Dallas, TX – The Mustangs opened up conference play by going 1-1 versus Texas College and Paul Quinn on the road to start the Red River Athletic Conference portion of the Season. Emmanuel McNeil and Rontrell Hills both scored a game-high 21 points to help almost beat Texas College on Thursday, while on Saturday, the Mustangs had 5 players in Double Figures as they overcame a 13 point half-time deficit to win 73-70.

The Mustangs opened up slow against Texas College and were down 13-6 early in the game when a key shot by Emmanuel McNeil keyed a 38-28 run over the next 13 minutes of play to hold a 44-34 lead with 1:58 remaining in the half. However, 4 straight turnovers by the Mustangs led to 4 points for the Steers, as USW held a 6 point halftime lead at 44-38. 

The second half started with a made two-point shot by Tyler Watkins to extend the lead to 8, but that was the largest lead the Mustangs would have the rest of the game. Texas College tied the game at the 16:05 mark, and the game was back and forth with neither team opening a scoring advantage of more than 4 points, as there were five ties or lead changes throughout the game. A foul by Texas college at the 2:47 mark gave the mustangs a chance to tie the game at 85-84, but a missed free-throw by Juan Gay was the last time the Mustangs would score in the game, as the Steers made six straight free-throws in the last 0:46 of the game, to put the game out of reach for the Mustangs 91-84.

The Mustangs shot 50.0% in the 2nd half and 54.7% overall, but USW fouls allowed the Steers to shoot 21 of 26 free throws in the 2nd half to win the game.  The loss dropped USW to 2-6 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

"I was a little disappointed that we dropped a tough game to a good school on the road." said head coach Timm Dixon. "again, turnovers and free-throw misses continue to hurt us and cost us games late down the stretch. I know the guys are working hard to minimize their mistakes and make free-throws, so we will continue to work with them on a daily basis at practice"

Saturday at Paul Quinn College, the Mustangs sluggish start allowed the Tigers to lead by as many as 16 in the 1st half, and USW trailed at halftime by a score of 43-29. The Mustangs shot the ball well offensively, (48.0%) but 15 turnovers allowed the Tigers to score 12 points off turnovers to hold the half-time lead.

The second half saw the Mustangs slowly chip away at the lead as Tyler Watts hit the first shot of the 2nd half as the Mustangs went on a 31-17 run over the next 14 minutes to tie the game for the first time with 05:37 remaining at 60-60. The Mustangs built a 8 point lead with 1:29 remaining but a Tiger 2 point basket, a USW turnover, and 2 missed free-throws by Tyler Watts cut the lead to 6 with 0:23 remaining. The Mustangs called timeout, and then full court-pressed the Tigers who then hit a bank-3point shot from the near half-court to cut the lead to 73-70. The Tigers quickly fouled Tyler Watkins who missed two free-throws that would have put the game out of a reach, however, the last second 3-point shot didn't find the rim as the Mustangs held on to win 73-70.

By game's end, seven different Mustangs found their way into the scoring column with five of them, in double figures.

The Mustangs shot 48% for the game and a season high 46% from the 3-point line. The Mustangs woes at the free-throw line continue this season as they shot 31 free throws in the 2nd half however, only converting 57% of them for the game (20-35)

"I told the team at half that if we took care of the ball, and ran our plays I was calling from the sideline and if we made a emphasis to get the ball inside, that we would have a great chance to come back and win the game, which we did" said head coach Timm Dixon. "I was so happy to see that we only had 3 turnovers in the 2nd half, as that was the difference in the game. Again, free-throws continue to be our achilles heel, but to get 31 free-throws in the 2nd half, is a credit to them to get the ball inside consistently." 

The Mustangs (3-6 overall, 1-1 RRAC) return to action on Thursday (4 p.m.) when they play Huston-Tillotson at the Mabee Center. The game will not be live-streamed or available via radio/internet