STEPHENVILLE – For the first time since 2008, the No. 7-ranked Tarleton State Texans are heading to the NCAA Division II Regional Finals with an 84-62 rout over 10^th-ranked Colorado-Colorado Springs.

The Texans tied a school-record from 2002-03 with their 29^th win on the season (29-3) and are making their fifth trip to the Regional Finals in program history.

"We prepared very hard over the last 24 hours to have an opportunity to advance," Tarleton State coach Lonn Reisman said. "I'm very proud of our kids. They absorbed the game plan and went out there and played a defensive game that we had to play to win this game."

After trading buckets for the first three minutes of the game, the Texans' lights-out 3-point shooting helped generate a 22-2 run over a 10-minute span to pad Tarleton's lead to 27-10 with 6:16 to go in the first half.

Senior Mo Lee provided nine points – all from behind the arc – during the momentum-shifting run.

Lee, who was playing sick, poured in a game-high 24 points and made his first six 3-point shots.

"Mo [Lee] had a gutty performance tonight," Reisman said. "He had a sick stomach all day and was throwing up all day long. I thought he showed his competitiveness on a night that he really didn't feel very well."

The top 10 matchup featured a clash of the Mountain Lions' 9^th-ranked scoring offense (86.9 points per game) vs. the Texans' 3^rd-ranked defense in the country (60.3 opposing points per game).

As it has all season, Tarleton's stifling defense proved to be too much for opponents, even against UCCS's high-scoring offense.

The Texans held Colorado-Colorado Springs to a season-low 62 points, twenty-five points below their average.

Colorado-Colorado Springs' Derrick White (26 points per game) was coming off an all-time performance when the junior scored 50 points in his team's opening-round tournament win.

Nosa Ebomwonyi and the Texans' defense limited the sharp-shooting guard to only 19 points – while missing all five 3-point attempts – and forced White into early foul trouble in the first half. White picked up his second offensive foul six minutes into the game and was forced to the bench which was the start of Tarleton's huge run.

"Nosa [Ebomwonyi] and Malcom [Hamilton] are outstanding defensive players; they're both long and they're both aggressive," Reisman said. "I thought they did a great job on [Derrick] White in the game."

The Texans' eight first-half 3-pointers matched the total number of field goals the Mountain Lions made (8-of-22) in the first half.

Tarleton mounted a 37-14 lead with 1:58 left in the opening half and put an exclamation point on a dominating first half when Michael Hardge floated one of his team-high five assists to Malcolm Hamilton, who finished with a two-handed alley-oop slam to take a 39-18 lead into the locker room.

"We have a target on our back every game," Hardge said. "[UCCS] came out and gave us their effort, but we just wanted to make them uncomfortable defensively."

Hardge scored 17 second-half points and matched his career-high with 20 points while shooting 7-of-10 from the field.

Hamilton followed Hardge with 13 points of his own for the Texans.

Tarleton built its largest lead at 61-37 with 10:42 remaining and never let the lead slip under 15 points in the second half.

A game after registering a season-high 21 points, senior Davene Carter continued to be the low-post presence the Texans need by scoring eight points and pulling down eight rebounds while contesting anything the Mountain Lions shot in the lane.

In the South Central Regional Finals, the No.1-seeded Texans will face Lone Star Conference foe Angelo State (28-5) for the third time this season. Each team won at home during LSC play. The championship game is scheduled for Tuesday, March 17 at 7 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.