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WICHITA FALLS – Those who look at the final score from Sunday's South Central Region semifinal at Wichita Falls' D.L. Ligon Coliseum will not see how close the ballgame truly was as the Texans fell to No. 3 Midwestern State, 71-56.

With just 10:02 left in the contest, the Texans who had trailed by double digits pulled within three points and missed a wide-open three and two free throws that could have swung the momentum. However, the Mustangs went on a 12-4 run.

Tarleton ended its season24-8 at its seventh South Central Region tournament in nine years – the most of any team in the region in that span.

“I am very proud of my team and what they did this year,” said Tarleton head coach Lonn Reisman. “There were two very good teams on the floor tonight, and we have a lot of respect for MSU. Coach McCasland has done a very good job with his team, and they finished the game tonight.”

Tarleton shot just 34.8 percent from the floor in the contest while MSU shot 44.9 percent, but at the 10-minute mark, Reisman thought the tide might turn for his squad.

“We had the chance to turn the momentum in our favor at that point,” said the head coach who is in his 22nd year at the helm of the Texans. “I am not saying we would have won the game, but we had the chance to change the outcome. Then, we just got behind and had to gamble a bit, and MSU broke the press and converted on some big shots.”

The closest Tarleton would get for the rest of the game was at 6:55 as the Texans trailed by five (50-45), but the Mustangs closed the contest outscoring the visitors 21-9 over the final six and a half minutes.

“[The Mustangs] play well together, and they converted when they needed to,” Reisman said. “When you have the opportunity to face a turning point in the game, you have to take advantage of it, and we just didn't do that.”

The Texans got on the board first when Effran Bryant hit a jumper, but Jason Ebie did the same on the opposite end. Wale Ogunoye had two free throws at 16:41 to give Tarleton a 4-2 lead before Craig Green had a jumper to tie the game. Bryant then had a three for the Texans to put Tarleton ahead 7-4 with 16:06 on the clock. Then, the Mustangs scored eight straight points, all scored by Green to give the home team a 12-7 advantage with 14:59 remaining in the first half.

Corin Henry traded a jumper with a three by Adrian Van Buren, but Jeremiah Wilson had a jumper to cut the lead to four, 15-11. Green had another three at 10:41 to return the lead to seven before Michael Godwin had a layup to stretch the lead to nine, 20-11. Oguonye had two bonus shots for the Texans before a Chris Harrell layup off an inbounds pass. Tarleton trailed by five at 8:52, 20-15.

Anthony Moore had a three for the Mustangs before Henry did the same on the opposite end that was followed by an Oguonye hook shot in the paint. Tarleton trailed by three (23-20) with 7:16 remaining before Godwin had a free throw and Chris Williams had a layup. Bryant had a bonus shot before Henry connected on two at 5:19 to make it 26-23.

The Mustangs scored seven of the last nine points of the half as Ogunoye had two free throws with 2:31 on the clock for Tarleton's only points in that span. The Texans trailed 33-25 at the break.

Tarleton's last bucket of the first half came at 7:16, and though the Texans added five free throws in the final six minutes, the Texans shot just .318 from the floor while MSU shot .429.

Wilson opened the second half with a jumper in the paint before Devon Hills had a three to cut the lead to three (33-30) with 18:01 on the clock. However, Logan had two free throws before a Green three made it 38-30 with just under 16 and a half minutes left in the contest. Bryant shot two bonus shots at 15:19 for the Texans, and the senior hit both to make it a six-point game, 38-32.

Godwin got a slam at 14:34 from the backside of the lane to return the lead to eight prior to Bryant hitting the front side of a one-and-one. Godwin then had a jumper outside the paint for the home team, but Henry had a jumper at 13:05 to cut the lead to seven. Twelve seconds later, Green connected on the front side of a two-shot foul to make it 43-35.

Oguonye had a putback at 11:19 to cut the lead to six before Donta Smith went to the line for two shots 1:03 later. The Texan junior hit both free throws to make it 43-39. A rebounding foul on Logan sent Wilson to the line at 10:02, and the senior connected on both bonus shots to cut the lead to two, 43-41. A Mustang shot clock violation led to two free throws by Smith, but he missed both shots. At 8:07, Ebie hit a three from the right of the key to increase the lead to five before a Tarleton turnover led to Hagan going to the line. With 7:38 remaining, the Mustang hit both shots to make it 48-41.

Fourteen seconds later, Hills got a jumper in the paint to cut the lead to five. Green then hit two free throws prior to a jump hook by Wilson to make it 50-45 with 6:51 on the clock. Ebie then had a jumper at the top of the lane. Hagan then had a three from the top of the key off the dribble to return the lead to 10 (55-45) with just 6:04 remaining.

Wilson went to the line at 5:35 to shoot two, and the senior hit both free shots to cut the lead to eight. Hagan then got a defensive rebound and went down the floor for a fastbreak layup before Logan got an alley-oop with just under four minutes left to increase the lead to 12 – the biggest of the night. A Texan turnover came at 3:26, and on the inbounds pass was down the floor to Hagan who got a wide-open layup to make it 61-47. Hills was called for a technical foul, and Green hit both free throws to make it 63-47 with 3:06 on the clock.

Green went to the line to shoot two more bonus shots 21 seconds later, and the Mustang hit both to increase the lead to 18. Henry got a jumper at 2:38, but Green had an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 68-49. Harrell was fouled on a putback at 2:04, and the Texan hit the first and missed the second to cut the lead to 18. Green had two more throws at 1:49. Bryant then fouled out of his final game as a Texan at the 1:40-mark. Godwin missed the first but made the second to make it a 21-point lead, 71-50.

Smith got a layup off an inbounds pass before Godwin fouled out at 1:12 to send Henry to the line. The Texan junior connected on two free throws to cut the score to 71-54. Henry then had a fastbreak layup with 34.7 on the clock to make it 71-56 as the Mustangs held on to the win to advance to the regional tournament final.

The Texans were led by Henry with 15 points and Wilson with 10. Bryant scored nine in the final game of his four-year career. Smith led the team with eight rebounds.

Tarleton averaged .348 from the floor (16-46), .231 from the arc (3-13) and .724 from the charity stripe (21-29).

The Mustangs were led by Green with 28 points while Godwin (13) and Hagan (11) also scored in double digits. Godwin led the squad with 11 boards.

MSU averaged .449 from the field (22-49), .333 from the arc (7-21) and .833 from the line (20-24).

The Mustangs outscored Tarleton 26-20 in the paint, 16-12 off turnovers and 18-9 off the bench.

Tarleton loses just two players off this year's squad – seniors Bryant and Wilson.

“These two guys have done a lot for us and our program,” Reisman said. “Effran has been with us for four years, and he will be missed. Jeremiah has been a pleasure to coach over the last two years. Both will always be a part of our family.”

When asked of his four years with the purple and white, the senior from Humble was just that.

“My four years here have meant a lot to me,” Bryant said. “I have grown up in the program as both a player and a person. Really, words can't explain my four years. We are a team, a family that believes in each other. We believe that we can do big things together, and we were not picked to do much this year, but we came in and proved we can win. I am thankful for the coaching staff and this program.”

Henry said the tournament experience was something he and his returning teammates can build upon.

“Tonight, we just couldn't get over the hump when we needed to,” the junior from Randallstown, Md. said. “They made some big shots, and we couldn't convert on our chances.

“I believe we got some very good experience this year,” Henry continued. “Hopefully, we will make the tournament next year and it won't be anything new for us. We will just have to put in more work so we can come out on the winning side.”

Reisman added his hopes that the Texans will return to their second straight regional, eighth overall.

“We got our feet wet with this young team,” Reisman said. “We have only lost eight games, and four of them have been to Midwestern State. We have a solid nucleus coming back, and hopefully we will add the right people to our family for next season and make it back to the national playoffs again next year.”