BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - Determination. Confidence. Character.

All of that was challenged and Midwestern State pass the test with flying maroon and gold colors with a 76-62 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville in Saturday afternoon's Lone Star Conference Championship semifinals at Bruin Fieldhouse.

"This time of year, there are no surprises," MSU coach Jeff Ray said. "It was physical and beyond physical at times. Today we did a good job of protecting the ball."

And protecting the lead as the Mustangs advance to their fourth LSC title game Sunday afternoon against Southwestern Oklahoma at 1 p.m. in Bruin Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs stunned North Division No. 1 seed Central Oklahoma in the other semifinal, 69-67.

It all started when push came to shove for Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Robert Williams' flagrant foul of Charlie Logan ignited a 14-2 run which allowed the Mustangs to put the game away when Nolan Richardson canned a pair of free throws to give MSU a 70-52 lead with 2:56 remaining.

"These kids have a lot of character and we don't fight back that (physical) way," Ray said. "We just keep our composure."

Anthony Moore hit a floater in the lane after Craig Green connected on a pair of free throws after subbing in for Logan, who was shaken up on the Williams' flagrant foul.

The Mustangs set the tone for the remainder of the contest as Earl Rabb fought through the scrum for a loose rebound then found Richardson on the 3-point line.

"Earl just put through some people and found me," Richardson said in the press conference before Rabb interrupted to clarify how he found him.

"He was screaming, 'Earl!, Earl!'" Rabb said.

Richardson performed a nice catch and release to bury his fourth 3-pointer of the game and completed the four-point play after he was fouled by a flying Adam Morris.

Richardson paced the Mustangs with 25 points, while Rabb completed another solid all-around game with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists but the bench also gave MSU a lift.

"What happens with this team is when someone struggles, someone else steps up," Ray said.

Moore came off the bench to ignite the second half binge with 11 points and five rebounds after the Mustangs led 34-30 at the intermission. Marcus Anderson added seven points while Trajinski Grigsby added six points and seven rebounds.

"It doesn't matter if I come off of the bench or if I'm getting minutes," Moore said. "It's all about winning. That's the way I feel and it's how I think this whole team feels."

The Mustangs have appeared in the conference title games two other times in the Ray era after missing the playoffs in the previous season and won the championship both times (1999 and 2007).

"It's one of the goals we had at the beginning of the season and we're not satisfied," Rabb said.