The Tarleton State University Texans claimed its second straight Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship with a 71-65 win over the Midwestern State University Mustangs Saturday evening at the Allen Event Center in Allen.

The Texans erased a pair of seven-point deficits in the first half and later used 16-1 run to take a 31-22 lead with 5:10 left to play before the break. MSU would match the Texans over the final five minutes, but Tarleton did not give away its double-digit lead and led 40-30 going into the half.

 

De’Andre Upchurch led all players at the break with 18 points after going 5-for-7 from the field and 2-for-2 from beyond the three-point line. Upchurch was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line as well.

 

Texan’s shot 48 percent from the field in the first half and limited MSU to just 9-of-26 shooting. They also out-rebounded the Mustangs 20-13 over the first 20 minutes.

 

The Mustangs opened the second half with a 10-7 run and later earned a three-pointer from Dejuan Plummer to make it a four-point game, but back-to-back buckets from Davene Carter pushed Tarleton’s lead back to eight points. Carter would go on to score eight consecutive points for the Texans during a stretch that lasted more than three minutes and his in-bounds alley-oop dunk gave the Texan’s a 55-49 lead.

 

MSU went go on an 11-5 run and only trailed the Texans 61-60 with 3:55 left to play. After opening the run with just a 3-for-6 effort from the free throw line, Mustangs countered late with a 6-for-6 effort to pull within one point of the Texans.

 

Upchurch would sink a teardrop floater at the 3:25 mark to make it a 63-60 game, but MSU came back with a lay-up from Plummer to make it a 63-62 game with just 2:08 left to play.

 

Guy was fouled, but he missed his one-and-one opportunity with just 1:43 left on the clock. MSU rebounded the ball and took a timeout to ring-up a play. Monzaigo Williams’ baseline jumper was in-and-out, giving the ball back to the Texans, Damion Clemons was fouled and sent to the free throw line with 1:01, where he made both attempts to push Tarleton’s lead to 65-62.

MSU turned the ball over on its next possession, but decided not to make a quick foul and instead let the Texans run clock and then with 19.3 seconds left Guy found Upchurch for a three-pointer to extend Tarleton’s lead to 68-62.

 

MSU missed both of its three-point attempts and Emmanuel Andrews secured the rebound before he was fouled with 6.5 seconds left to play. Andrews sank both free throws and the Mustangs countered with a late three-pointer, but Andrews was fouled on the in-bounds pass and his free throws secured the victory at 71-65.

 

The Texans won its second straight LSC Tournament Championship and its third in school history.

 

Upchurch, who was named the LSC Tournament Most Valuable Player, finished the game with 27 points, while Carter finished with a double-double recording 12 points and 12 boards. Carter was named to the all-tournament team, as was Chuck Guy.

 

The Texans earn a LSC’s automatic bid into the South Central Region Championship that is set for next Saturday, Mar. 15, with a site to be determined tomorrow evening when the NCAA Selection Show announces the complete playoff brackets.

 

The Tarleton Athletic Department will host the selection show at Wisdom Gym and it will be open to the public. The doors will open at 8:30 p.m. and the men’s selection show will be held at 9:30 p.m., approximately 30 minutes after the women’s basketball selection show.