WICHITA FALLS, Texas - No. 3 Midwestern State was in a dogfight with Lone Star Conference rival Tarleton State in Sunday night's NCAA Division II South Central semifinal at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

Well, for the first 30 minutes anyway as the Texans clawed within two points with 10:02 to play.

But the Mustangs closed with a flourish to claim a 71-56 victory to earn a berth in their second NCAA region final in school history.

MSU faces Central Missouri, an 80-73 winner over Fort Hays State (Kan.), Tuesday night for the right to advance to the Elite Eight next week in Springfield, Mass. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Senior guard Craig Green poured in a game-high 28 points including three 3-pointers and went 13-for-14 from the charity stripe to give the Mustangs the decided advantage.

Senior forward Michael Godwin delivered 13 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes off of the bench, but the Texans kept it tight.

Tarleton narrowed a 33-25 halftime defictit to two points when Jeremiah Wilson hit a pair of free tosses to pull the Texans within 43-41.

But the Mustangs answered with a Jason Ebie 3-pointer and Chris Hagan added a pair of charity tosses to push the lead back to 48-41.

The Texans would get no closer than five the remainder of the way.

Midwestern State broke the 30-win plateau for just the third time in school history and for the first time since 1974 as the Mustangs advanced to 30-2 for the season.

Tarleton State finished the year at 24-8.