WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Tarleton State moved one step closer to defending its South Central Regional title on Sunday with a 69-63 win over No. 8 seed Lubbock Christian at MSU's D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

After trailing by three at the half, the Texans pulled even with 12 minutes to play before a 12-2 run opened the game wide open. The run was sparked by 3-pointers by E.J. Reed, Michael Hardge and Malcom Hamilton, along with a three-point play from Chantz Chambers.

From there, the Texans were able to make enough free throws, collect stops on defense and hit a few driving layups to secure the six-point win.

Tarleton State improves to 22-8 and advances to Tuesday's regional final, in a rematch of last year's game against Angelo State. As last year's host team, the Texans were able to edge ASU and earn a trip to the Elite Eight. This year, the game will be held on a neutral site, as Angelo State owns a 2-1 record over TSU this season. Tarleton has now won seven of its last nine games, with both losses occurring to the Rams.

Sunday night, the Texans made sure Lubbock Christian (21-9) didn't have a repeat performance after its stunning upset over top-seed Midwestern State. The Chaps cooled off against the Texans, making just 4-of-17 from beyond the 3-point stripe.

The Chaps had just two players in double figures as A.J. Luckey and Tyler Rogers each scored 12. Marcos Shuster, who made several clutch baskets in Saturday's upset over MSU, was just 1-of-9 from the floor and missed all five 3-point attempts to score only five points.

Another big difference for the Chaps on this night came at the line, as they shot only 15 free throws, making 13. Against MSU, Lubbock Christian went to the stripe 30 times, making 20.

The Texans nearly had all five starters in double figures as Hardge scored a game-high 18 points, making six of his eight field goals. Hamilton, Reed and Chambers each scored 10 while Romond Jenkins had eight points and 10 rebounds.

In the first half, both teams traded the lead several times as the Chaps led by as much as six points, before Tarleton trimmed the lead to 33-30 at halftime.