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EDMOND, Okla. – The No. 17 Tarleton Texans were outscored 26-13 over the last 11 minutes of the second half in the first round of the South Central Region Tournament in Edmond, Okla. to fall to Midwestern State, 64-51.

The two teams have met eight times in the last two seasons, and Tarleton had claimed all three previous meetings in 2011 – but a 29.8 percent shooting performance in the game hurt Tarleton's chance to move past the first round in its eighth regional tournament appearance in the last 10 seasons.

“This was a very tough basketball game, and we have to give MSU a lot of credit for playing well this afternoon,” said Tarleton head coach Lonn Reisman. “They are a very good team, and the ball bounced their way several times in the last 11 minutes of the game. We had some good shots, we just didn't get them to fall.”

Tarleton tallied just three field goals in the last 11 minutes to make it almost an exact mirror image of last week's Lone Star Conference Tournament semifinal game with the Mustangs where the Texan defense held MSU to just 12 second half points.

The Texans fell to 24-6 overall and bowed out of the regional tournament in the first round for just the second time in school history. Tarleton is 6-2 now in first round games.

“We didn't execute very well in the heat of the battle when we needed to do so, and they did,” Reisman said.

Senior Corin Henry said he felt the team wasn't as focused as it needed to be.

“Our execution was off, and I don't think we were as focused as we needed to be today,” the senior from Randallstown, Md. said. “We respect MSU, but we just didn't come ready to play 40 minutes of basketball.”

“At this level of play, the last seven or eight minutes is so critical,” Reisman said. “They finished the game, and we didn't. Things have to go your way, and you have to get some luck to bounce your way, and you have to play well. We didn't have the luck, and we didn't play well, and a good time like Midwestern State is going to make you pay. They did what they needed to do to get the win.”

Wes Dipprey got the game going with a layup at 18:38 before he had a putback at 17:21 to put Tarleton ahead by four to start the game. Keonte' Logan and Adrian Van Buren then had back-to-back threes for the Mustangs to make it 6-4 in favor of MSU. Another three by Kevin Loyd made it a five-point game at 13:13.

Nick Mosley had two free throws at 13:08 before Devon Hills had a steal and a fastbreak dunk to cut the lead to one, 9-8. Kevin Loyd then had two free throws before Darrick Thomas had a layup to amek it 13-8 with 11:39 on the clock. Fabian Wilson then had a three for the Texans followed by a jumper by henry that tied the game at 13 with 10:56 remaining in the period.

After a Thomas layup, Henry had a free throw. Thomas then had a jumper before Michael Loyd did the same to make it a five-point contest. Wilson had another shot from behind the arc at 6:06 to cut the score to 19-17. Michael Loyd traded two buckets for one Donta Smith layup before Smith had a free throw at 1:04 to make it 23-20.

Coleman Furst had a three for Tarleton with 44.0 left in the half to tie the game at 23 before Thomas put the Mustangs ahead at the break (25-23) with 25.6 seconds left. Tarleton had the ball, but the shot was off and Tarleton went into the locker room trailing.

Kevin Loyd had a three to start the second half just 15 seconds into the period before Warren Webb had a layup. After Chris Hagan had two free throws at 19:03 for his first points of the contest, Darrion Washington nailed a three from the right wing to cut the lead to two at 15:54, 30-28.

With 14:53 on the clock, Van Buren was allowed to shoot three foul shots, and he hit each of them to stretch the lead to five (33-28). Wilson then had two bonus shots for Tarleton before Henry hit a three at 14:03 to tie the game at 33. Hagan did the same on the opposite end before Wilson nailed a shot from beyond the arc in the right corner to tie the game at 36.

After a Hagan layup, Henry had a steal and a layup to make it 38 all with 11:23 left in the contest. MSU then went on a 10-0 run to take a 48-38 lead. Scoring in the run was David Terrell with a putback, Hagan with back-to-back threes and Charlie Logan with a layup. Washington ended the Tarleton drought of 4:56 with a three-point play the hard way at 6:29 to cut the lead to seven (48-39). 

Michael Loyd then had both ends of a one-and-one before a MSU steal led to a Michael Loyd layup. At 4:18, Hagan hit both sides of a one-and-one to stretch the lead to 13, 54-41. Wilson then drove the lane for a layup and was fouled. He hit the bonus shot to make it a 10-point game.

Tarleton fouled with 2:47 to stop the clock, and Thomas hit one free throw. Tarleton missed a three, and had to foul with 2:22 on the clock, and Keonte' Loyd hit one free throw. Wilson had a jumper in the paint at 2:11, and Tarleton fouled again at 2:06. Hagan went to the line and hit two free throws before Henry was fouled going to the basket. He hit the first and missed the second, but Tarleton got the rebound and Smith threw passed the ball to Mosley for a dunk to make it 58-49 with 1:53 left. Hagan was fouled with 1:51 on the clock, and he hit the first and missed the second. Mosley was then fouled at 1:41, and the Texan senior missed both. Hagan was fouled at 1:14, and he missed the first and made the second to make it 60-49.

With 64 seconds left, Henry was fouled and hit both sides of the one-and-one to make it 60-51 before Hagan had two free throws at 55.3.   With 45.6 seconds left, Keonte' Logan had two free throws to stretch the lead to 64-51.

Wilson led the Texans with 16 points while Henry added 11. Smith and Dipprey tied for the team lead with seven rebounds as the Texans were outrebounded 38-35.

The Texans averaged .298 from the floor (17-57), .240 from the three-point arc (6-25) and .647 from the charity stripe (11-17).

MSU was led by Hagan with 21 points and Michael Loyd with 10. Charlie Logan was the top rebounder with six.

A week after shooting just five-of-20 at the free throw line against Tarleton in the semifinal, MSU went 21-of-29 from the line (.724). The Mustangs averaged .409 from the field (18-44) and .412 from the arc (7-17).

Tarleton turned the ball over 16 times leading to 16 Mustang points as the Texans forced 14 MSU turnovers and scored 12 points off those turnovers. The Texans outscored the Mustangs 22-20 in the paint and 25-21 off the bench while MSU outscored Tarleton 13-6 on fastbreak points.