Elite Again! Mustangs strike down No. 4 Central Oklahoma, 73-66 - MSU Sports
Box Score
EDMOND, Okla. - Midwestern State faced down its biggest weakness Tuesday night in the NCAA Divison II South Central Region championship.
"Free throws have been our Achilles' heel," MSU coach Grant McCasland said. "But we have a lot of tough guys who really want to win. It wasn't the free we took that were important, it was the ones we made."
The Mustangs connected on 18-of-24 charity tosses in the final six minutes of the game to come away with a hard-fought 73-66 win over No. 4 Central Oklahoma.
The win not only ended the Bronchos' 25-game winning streak at Hamilton Fieldhouse, but also punched Midwestern's ticket for a return trip to the Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass.
The Mustangs will face No. 2 Bellarmine - an 86-66 winner over Ferris State (Mich.) Tuesday night - in the opening game in the national quarterfinals set for 11 a.m. (Central Time) at MassMutual Center.
"It took us some time to figure it out this year," South Central Tournament MVP Chris Hagan said. "But we're playing well at the right time and really believe in each other."
The biggest blows of the game came in a span of seven seconds when two-time Lone Star Conference North Division Player of the Year committed his fifth foul of the game when MSU's David Terrell scrambled for his own missed free throw with 7:07 to play.
"I really thought they had called a lane violation on the play," Terrell said. "But when I head the roar of our crowd, I knew the call had gone our way."
Williams, who had picked four fouls in the opening six minutes of the second half, went to the bench with the game tied at 55-55.
Seven second after Terrell - a 35-percent free-throw shooter - hit two charity tosses, UCO's second leading scorer - Tyler Phillips - ran over MSU forward Darrick Thomas for his fifth foul of the game.
From there, the Bronchos struggled mightlily on the offensive end as they hit just two field goals over the last 10 minutes of the game and were held to 39.6 percent from the field.
Terrell led the way by posting his sixth double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Hagan and Michael Loyd with 11 points while Kevin Loyd and Charlie Logan pitched in eight points each.
The Mustangs improved to 25-8 on the season while Central Oklahoma closed the campaign at 30-4.
UCO basketball falls - UCO Sports
EDMOND (March 15) – A dream season came to an end Tuesday night before a packed crowd at Hamilton Field House when Central Oklahoma fell to Midwestern State 73-66 in the finals of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional.
The No. 4-ranked Bronchos finished 30-4 – the most wins in school history – and had a 25-game home winning streak snapped in the rugged contest that saw UCO whistled for 27 fouls and have three players foul out.
MSU pulled off its third straight upset in improving to 25-8 and winning the regional for the second straight year. The Mustangs advance to next week’s Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass.
“It was a tough game and we seemed to be in foul trouble most of the way,” UCO coach Terry Evans said. “That was a battle between two really good teams and we just came up a little short.
“I’m really proud of what our guys did this year. We won more games than any other team at UCO and did a lot of great things. It hurts and we’re disappointed right now, but we had a great season and have a lot to be proud of.”
Brent Friday led the Bronchos, scoring 25 points while hitting 8-of-14 shots and 9-of-10 free throws. Dauntae Williams added 14 points, six rebounds and five assists before fouling out after playing just 25 minutes and Shane Carroll had 10 points.
Tyler Phillips and Jarrod McDaniel also fouled out for UCO, which committed an unusually high 21 turnovers while shooting just 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from 3-point range. The Bronchos did hit 19-of-23 free throws (82.6 percent).
MSU went to the line 45 times, making 29.
Gholson: Sometimes, it pays to miss that free throw - Nick Gholson, Times Record News
Midwestern State's game plan was to minimize Dauntae Williams. In the end, it was a missed MSU free throw that finally did the trick. With 6:07 to play and the game tied 55-55, Central Oklahoma coach Terry Evans had his team intentionally foul David Terrell.
Not a bad strategy. Terrell is a 34 percent free-throw shooter. Last week, Evans sat and watched the Midwestern junior make just 2 of 12 in the Lone Star Conference tournament.
But Terrell's 48th missed free throw of the season turned out to be the pivotal play in the Mustangs' 73-66 win over UCO here Tuesday night in the championship game of the NCAA Division II South Central Region tournament. The long-armed, 6-foot-5 jumping jack hustled to the rim and rebounded his miss and drew the fifth foul on UCO's best player.
Williams walked to the bench for the final time in his career.
Elite Repeat - J. Scott Russell, Times Record News
EDMOND, Okla. —Free-throw shooting has been the Achilles' heel of the Midwestern State Mustangs for most of the season.
But with the season on the line Monday night, it became one of their strengths.
The Mustangs shot 36 second-half free throws and scored their final 18 points from the line as they outlasted the fourth-ranked Central Oklahoma Bronchos, 73-66, to claim the South Central Regional title at the Hamilton Field House.
The win enables the Mustangs (25-8) to make back-to-back appearances in the Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass., the first Lone Star Conference team to do that since Tarleton State did it in 2005 and 2006.
It also snapped a 25-game home winning streak for the LSC champion Bronchos (30-4), who had beaten MSU during the regular season.
The Elite Eight is scheduled for March 23, 24 and 26 and the Mustangs will play Bellarmin University of Louisville, Ky.
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