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WICHITA FALLS – The Tarleton Texans outscored the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks 7-3 over the final 88 seconds of Saturday's NCAA Division II South Central Region quarterfinal in Wichita Falls to claim a 75-71 victory.

Tarleton improved to 24-7 with the win that moved the Texans to the second round of the national tournament for the sixth time in seven tries. Tarleton, who is in the midst of its seventh trip to the regional in the last nine seasons, will face this year's nemesis, Midwestern State, in the semifinals on Sunday, March 14 at 7 p.m. in D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

The Texans' Jeremiah Wilson and Effran Bryant helped the purple and white advance, and head coach Lonn Reisman said he was proud of the way his kids fought through and held off the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association tournament champion.

“Nebraska-Omaha has an outstanding team, and we truly respect their program,” Reisman said. “We fought hard today, and to for our young team to battle through and pull down the win was tremendous. UNO went on a solid run there to tie the game, but I am proud of the way we held together to move on to the next round.”

Wilson finished the game with his ninth double-double of the season, scoring 17 points with 12 rebounds. The Texans had four in double-digits. Bryant, who finished with 13 points, hit the last free throw of the contest to make it a two-possession game.

UNO scored the first two buckets from behind the arc to take an early 6-0 lead before Corin Henry had two free throws to put the first points on the board for Tarleton at 17:39. Bryant had a layup 19 seconds later before he hit a three on a fastbreak to make it 7-6. Henry then fed Wilson for a layup to make it 9-6 Texans at 16:38.

Andrew Bridger then had a free throw and a three for the Mavericks to return the lead to UNO, 10-9. Wilson had a free throw before a layup by Aaron Terry made it 12-10. Bryant traded a layup with a Bridger three to make it 15-12 UNO with 12:54 on the clock.

Wilson then got a putback for the Texans before a Donta Smith layup put Tarleton ahead 16-15. Matt Newman then hit back-to-back threes for the Mavericks to put Tarleton behind 21-16. The Texans then went on a 12-0 run that was started by a Smith putback. In the run, Bryant had two free throws, Smith a layup, Bryant a three, Wale Ogunoye two free throws and Henry finished the run with a free throw. Tarleton led 28-21 with 5:48 remaining in the first half.

Eugene Bain had a jumper for UNO to break the run before Chris Harrell had a three from the right wing for Tarleton to make it 31-23. Tyler Bullock and Bain had buckets for the Mavericks before a Henry jumper and a Hills layup off an inbounds pass put the Texans ahead 35-27. Henry then had a three with 16.7 seconds left in the first period to make it 38-27, but Bullock had a three with 3.2 seconds left to give the game its halftime score with Tarleton leading, 38-30.

Ogunoye started the second half with a putback before Hills stretched the lead to 11 with a free throw. Jeff Martin hit a three for UNO to cut the lead to 41-32, but Wilson had a putback and was the receiving end of an alley-oop to make it as 12-point lead at 45-33 with 17:13 on the clock.

Aaron Terry then had two free throws before Dion Curry had a three-point play the hard way at 14:05 to cut the lead to seven. Webb had a putback before the Mavericks scored the next six points to cut the lead to three, 47-44. With 11:30 on the clock, Hills had two free throws before he had a scoop shot on the return trip to make it 51-44. Webb had a bonus shot at 10:10, but Bridger hit a three from the left corner to cut the lead to five.

Wilson had a three from the top of the key with nine minutes left, but Terry got a layup on the opposite end to make it 55-49 Texans. Bryant then found Hills with a three from the left corner Hills found Wilson for a layup. The senior was fouled, and he hit the free throw to convert the old-fashioned three-point play giving Tarleton a 61-49 lead. With 7:12 on the clock, Martin had a three from the left corner to cut the lead to nine.

Bain was fouled while going in for a fastbreak layup, and an intentional foul was called on Henry as he went straight up for the foul. The Maverick hit both free throws to cut the lead to seven, but UNO got to keep the ball. However, the Texans' Wilson got the defensive board prior to Webb going to the line for Tarleton at 5:57. The Texan sophomore connected on both bonus shots to make it 63-52.

Martin had a three on the opposite end of the floor, this one from behind the arc again to cut the lead to six. Webb connected on two more free throws at 5:17 to stretch the lead to eight before Hills got a jumper in the paint. Bullock had a jumper in the paint to make it 67-57 with 4:18 remaining in the contest. Martin then had a three from the top of the key after a Texan turnover to cut the lead to five.

With 2:26 on the clock, Martin hit another three after a Texan turnover to cut the lead to 67-65. Goaltending was then called against Wilson after another Tarleton turnover that tied the game at 67 with 1:54 left in the contest. Eight seconds later, Bridger fouled out of the ballgame, sending Henry to the line for the Texans. The Texan missed the first and made the second to return the lead to Tarleton, 68-67.

With 1:28 remaining, Wilson had a tip-in, but he was called for a rebounding foul prior to the basket. Newman went to the line and made both bonus shots to make it 69-68 UNO. It was the first lead for the Mavericks since7:57 remaining in the first half. With 69 ticks left, Henry had a layup to return the lead to Tarleton. Wilson was then fouled on the opposite end with 48.0 seconds left, and the senior hit both bonus shots to make it 72-69. With 37.4 seconds remaining, Bullock had a putback for the Mavericks to cut the lead to one.

Henry was fouled with 26.6 seconds left, and the Texan junior hit both to make it 74-71. Martin missed a three from the right corner, and Wilson got the defensive board. The senior was fouled with 15.4 seconds left, and the Texan missed both. Martin then had the ball stolen from Bryant, and the senior was fouled with 6.1 seconds left. The Texan hit the first and missed the second, but a missed three gave Tarleton a 75-71 win.

Also scoring in double figures for Tarleton was Henry with 13 and Hills with 12. Henry was second in rebounding with seven.

Tarleton averaged .451 from the floor (23-51), .400 from the three-point arc (6-15) and .676 from the charity stripe (23-34).

The Texans outscored the Mavericks 32-16 in the paint and outrebounded them 39-33.

The Mavericks were led by Bridger and Martin with 15 each while Newman and Bullock each had 11. UNO hit 13 three-point buckets in the contest.

UNO averaged .407 from the field (24-59), .448 from the arc (13-29) and .667 from the line (10-15).