WICHITA FALLS – St. Edward's men's basketball struggled to find its mark from beyond the 3-point line and surrendered 38 points in the second half of a 63-62 loss to the Midwestern State Mustangs. 
 
LEWIS ROWE led four starters in double figures with 17 points and nine rebounds, but Midwestern State's bench outscored St. Edward's 24-0, led by Jonathan Jackson's team-high 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting. 
 
St. Edward's outscored Midwestern State 15-9 over the first 10 minutes, going to Rowe for six early points, a 3-pointer from Ramos, and three layups for JAMISON KAY, with the third one capping off an 8-0 run. 
 
Both teams exchanged buckets, and St. Edward's opened its largest lead of the half when Raos found Kay to give the Hilltoppers a 22-15 lead with 6:15 remaining in the half. Midwestern State cut its deficit to four on Gibson's floater in the paint, but CONOR MCMANUS tipped in a Rowe layup as time expired to give St. Edward's a 31-25 lead at the break. 
 
Rowe led all scorers with 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting, and Kay added eight points and six rebounds. Will Shepherd scored eight for Midwestern State, but the Mustangs shot just 34.5 percent with seven turnovers in the half. 
 
St. Edward's opened the second half with back-to-back buckets for Rowe and Kay to go up 33-25. Gibson answered with a 3-pointer, and Rowe followed with a hook shot to keep St. Edward's up 37-28. However, Midwestern State closed the gap quickly with three consecutive 3-pointers, including back-to-back 3-pointers from Jackson, tying the game at 37 five minutes into the second half. 
 
Ramos hit 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, then found CONOR MCMANUS for a 3-pointer after a MASON COURTNEY steal, and then scored a layup on a feed from Row to put St. Edward's up six. Jackson followed with this third 3-pointer of the half, scoring 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting after the break. 
 
Midwestern State kept chipping into the lead, going up 49-48 on a Hill dunk off a feed from Jackson. A Jackson layup and Sanders 3-pointer extended it to six, and the Mustangs made back-to-back layups after Rowe went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line.
 
Ramos and Rowe scored back-to-back layups, Courtney hit a 3-pointer, and Ramos tied the game on a 3-pointer after Shepherd with a minute remaining. Shepherd responded with four consecutive points on two free throws and a layup, but Ramos was fouled on a 3-pointer with six seconds remaining to cut the lead to 1.
 
The Hilltoppers forced a turnover in the closing seconds, but Ramos's game-winner missed to end the game. 
 
Ramos scored 16 points with three assists, Kay notched a double-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists, and Courtney added 11, hitting three 3-pointers. 
 
St. Edward's drops to 6-3 with a 0-2 record in conference play. The Hilltoppers will take a week off and return to action on Dec. 5, hosting Sul Ross State.