Murfreesboro, Tenn. — With less than 10 seconds to play and Middle Tennessee (15-7, 6-3 CUSA) clinging to a 70-68 lead over the UTEP Miners (15-7, 5-4 CUSA), forward Essam Mostafa stood tall in the paint, swatting away a UTEP pass and nabbed his second steal of the game to go to the free-throw line to seal a 71-68 win...
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Murfreesboro, Tenn. — With less than 10 seconds to play and Middle Tennessee (15-7, 6-3 CUSA) clinging to a 70-68 lead over the UTEP Miners (15-7, 5-4 CUSA), forward Essam Mostafa stood tall in the paint, swatting away a UTEP pass and nabbed his second steal of the game to go to the free-throw line to seal a 71-68 win to help his Blue Raiders get back into the win column. After missing Thursday night's game due to injury, it was the consistency of Mostafa on both ends of the floor that helped Middle Tennessee seal it late. The graduate student post player scored 17 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and blocked a season-high three shots against perhaps two of the tougher post players in Conference USA in Kevin Kalu and Derick Hamilton.
Middle Tennessee was able to find some success from distance in the first half, shooting 7-of-14 from beyond the arc, led by point guard Jlynn Counter. The Oklahoma City native eclipsed his previous season high of three three-point baskets in a game by halftime, sinking four to help him to a first-half total of 16 points to go with a pair of rebounds and assists. Jestin Porter was also 2-of-4 from deep and grabbed a rebound and dished out an assist to help the Blue Raiders to a 36-33 halftime lead.
UTEP kept itself in the game in the first half by outscoring Middle Tennessee down low 20-10. Forwards Otis Frazier III, Kalu and Hamilton led the charge for the Miners with 10, six and six points apiece.
Porter hit a free throw to give him his 10th point of the game and score his 1,000th career point to begin the second half. The senior scored a career-high 41 points last season against UTEP and leads the Blue Raiders with seven 20-plus point scoring games this season. Porter finished with 15 points and two rebounds.
The Miners hung around in a game that saw 11 ties and eight total lead changes. UTEP had five players that scored at least 10 points. Frazier III was UTEP's leading second leading scorer with 14 points. The senior also pulled down eight rebounds. Kalu had 10 points with seven boards and reserve big man Hamilton had 14 points and five rebounds. Guard Corey Camper Jr. had 10 points with three rebounds and David Terrel Jr had a team-high 15 points and six assists for the Miners.
Reserve point guard Camryn Weston tallied his career-high 11th assist, dropping it off to Mostafa for an easy lay-in that brought the fifth lead change of the game with just over 7:00 minutes to play to give the Blue Raiders a 60-59 lead. Weston finished the game with six rebounds and a career-high 14 assists and a plus 16 rating. Forward Torey Alston was a big difference maker in the second half, pulling in seven rebounds and scoring 11 points, six of which came off alley-oops. Aside from Mostafa's veteran presence, senior Counter's career-high five three-pointers and game-high 21 points were big down the stretch, as well.
By the Numbers:
1000: Jestin Porter became the 35th player in program history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau. Porter is also the 12th all-time to accomplish the feat in three seasons of play at Middle Tennessee.
5: Career high in three-pointers for Jlynn Counter.
3: Season high in blocked shots for Essam Mostafa.
14: Career high in assists for Camryn Weston, also good for fifth all-time in program history for one game.
10: Double-doubles this season for Essam Mostafa.
Player's Perspective: Graduate Forward Essam Mostafa
"It was a fight," Mostafa said. "UTEP is a very good defensive team. They're the best at turning people over in the country. We ended up with 12 turnovers, which is pretty good. I need to do a better job of fighting through some stuff on defense. Championship teams need to play great defense, and we take pride in our defense. Sometimes you have to match other teams' physicality. I like to be physical and match guys and make them match me. There's no off night in this conference and every game is a war."
McDevitt's Mic:
"I thought we did several things really, really well tonight, except shooting free throws," said Middle Tennessee State Head Coach Nick McDevitt. "Cam Weston was unbelievable. Didn't score a point but had a plus-16 and 14 assists. Jlynn Counter had the lid off the basket with 21 points and Torey Alston played really-really well against Otis Frazier III. I was proud of Alston's effort. We challenged Essam (Mostafa) and Chris (Loofe) in our huddle with about 12 minutes left to play and said, 'one of you needs to get going.' Essam did after that. There was a different look on his face. He wanted the ball and was pursuing rebounds. I'm proud of our team for being tough against another tough team."
Up next: Middle Tennessee hits the road for a three-game trip that starts with the current first place team in Conference USA in Jacksonville State. Tipoff from the Pete Matthews Coliseum is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CDT on Thursday. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Blue Raider Network.