BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - Facing their largest second half deficit of the season in the Lone Star Conference Championship semifinals, Midwestern State didn't panic.

The Mustangs just did what they've done all year - they won.

"I can't say enough about our team's will to win basketball games," MSU coach Grant McCasland said. "These guys continue to find ways to win."

Count Northeastern State witness as MSU peeled off an 18-3 run in the final 3 1/2 minutes of the game to roll to a 74-64 win to advance to its third LSC title games in the last four seasons.

The Mustangs face Tarleton State, an 82-68 winner over West Texas A&M in Friday night's other semifinal game. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Senior guards Jason Ebie and Chris Hagan answered the call to combine for 27 points in the second half after the Mustangs fell behind 48-34 when NSU junior guard Dominique Gaines connected on a free throw to give the RiverHawks a 48-34 advantage with 16:44 to play.

"We knew they wanted to entice us into taking 3s early in the shot clock," McCasland said. "We finally bought into attacking with patience."

Ebie kickstarted a 10-0 Midwestern run with a nice drive and dish to Charlie Logan at the 11:18 mark for a traditional three-point play.

Hagan then took over for seven-straight points on three-straight driving layups including a three-point play of his own to knot the game at 51-51 with 9:10 to play.

The RiverHawks would push the lead out to 59-53 on a 28-foot 3-pointer by Gaines with 4:31 to play.

That's when the Mustangs got dialed in as Anthony Moore canned his second trey of the night and followed with a layup, then Ebie banged in back-to-back treys to give the Mustangs its first lead since the 10:34 mark of the first half at 64-41 with 2:25 to play.

Ebie finished with a career-high 22 points which included four 3-pointers to go along with four rebounds and four assists.

"Some games I'm called upon to score, some games I'm called upon to distribute and play defense," Ebie said. "I got some open looks and thank the Lord I made them."

Hagan added 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Moore finished with a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Antoine Branch paced the RiverHawks with 19 points, while Jason Jones and Marlon Burnett had 14 points each.

The Mustangs limited Gaines, who is NSU's top threat, to 10 points before fouling out in 28 minutes with six rebounds and 10 turnovers.

Midwestern State improved to 27-2, while the RiverHawks closed the campaign at 20-9.

Quick Shots
* Midwestern State claimed its eighth-straight victory in Lone Star Conference postseason play and to 16-5 in nine tournament appearances.
* Midwestern State improved to 13-8 all time against the RiverHawks and to 2-1 against NSU in postseason play.
* Midwestern State advanced to the Lone Star Conference title game for the fifth time. MSU has claimed titles in the previous four showings in 1999, 2000, 2007 and 2009.
* Midwestern State will try to win back-to-back LSC championships for the second time since it joined the league for the 1996-97 season. The Mustangs are the only team to win back-to-back championships since the league went to the current divisional format.