BARTLESVILLE, Okla.  - New coach and new players – but same result for the Midwestern State Mustangs, who claimed their second straight LSC Championship Saturday after a 65-55 win over Tarleton State at Bruin Fieldhouse.

The Mustangs built a comfortable lead just before halftime and even pushed it out to 20 before the Texans hung tough and closed the gap to six, but simply ran out of time.

The win not only gives MSU (28-2) its third tournament title in four years, becoming the first team since (UCO) to accomplish that feat since 1998, but also gives Midwestern a chance to move into the No. 1 spot in the South Central Regional, allowing them to host next week's regional in Wichita Falls.

 First-year head coach Grant McCasland cut down the final string of the nets, prompting a huge roar from the Midwestern State faithful, just minutes after the final buzzer.

Although MSU junior Charlie Logan carried the Mustangs Saturday night, tying his career-high with 19 points and 15 rebounds, along with several clutch free throws down the stretch, he was not among the three Midwestern players on the all-tournament team.

Despite scoring just three points in the final, senior guard Jason Ebie was named tournament MVP as the glue to the offense. Ebie also hit two clutch 3-pointers to save MSU in the semifinal round to beat Northeastern State Friday night. Guards Anthony Moore and Craig Green also made the all-tournament team, along with Tarleton State guards Corin Henry and Effran Bryant and Northeastern State center Jason Jones.

The Mustangs led 55-35 with 7:27 to play, but Tarleton kept battling and when Texan forward Jeremiah Wilson hit two free throws with 48 seconds to play, the lead was down to six. But Chris Hagan and Logan both hit a pair of foul shots to seal the win.

MSU senior forward Michael Godwin scored five points and four rebounds off the bench, but claimed his third conference championship of his four-year career.

For the Texans, four players finished the game in double figures, led by Jeremiah Wilson and Devon Hills each scoring 13 points. Bryant nine of his 10 points in the second half and Henry added 12 points.

Since joining the Lone Star Conference in 1998, Midwestern now has five LSC tournament titles.

Tarleton was looking for its first conference title since 2004 and falls to 1-5 in championship games.

Nick Eatman is a 1999 mass communications graduate of Midwestern State University.

MIDWESTERN STATE QUOTES

Grant McCasland, Head Coach - I'm very proud for our fans, the administration that has backed us and everyone who has supported Mustang basketball this year.  I'm very proud of this team, but our demeanor is that we have more to play for.

Tonight, we were patient, we didn't take the quick shot, and we defended very well.  Defense is what makes this team what it is.

When we were up by 20 points, we stalled and got out of our rhythm a bit.  We had a few easy 'bunny' shots down low that we missed and we didn't defend as well on the other end of the floor.  It's my job to keep us focused in those situations, and I just didn't do a very good job during that stretch tonight.  Hopefully, we'll have a few more of those opportunities.

Throughout the season, we have had someone step up for us, every night.  That's the way this team is.  It's the parts that make a whole.  You never know who it will be from game to game, but that's what makes this group of guys such a special team.

MIDWESTERN STATE NOTES
* MSU won its fifth LSC Championship overall and now has the second most tourney titles.
* MSU has won back-to-back championships for the second time since the conference went to the divisional format, and is the only team to have won back-to-back titles in that span.
* MSU moves to 17-5 in LSC Tournament games, winning its ninth in-a-row.
* MSU Senior Michael Godwin has been on three LSC Tournament winning teams (2007, 2009 and 2010).
* MSU Moves to 38-17 all-time against TSU, and 2-2 in LSC Tourney meetings.
* MSU is 23-1 when leading at halftime.
* Charlie Logan's 19 points is good for a season high and matches his career high which he set against Abilene Christian (Feb. 21, 2009)

TARLETON STATE QUOTES

Lonn Reisman, Head Coach - "We have had a very rewarding year.  We are 23-7 at this point and have been through a very tough conference season and had a lot of battles.  Midwestern State is a very, very good team, they played very well tonight and should be commended for that.

"But, I'm proud of the way we fought tonight.  I felt good at the eight-minute mark.  We were defending and playing very well.  We were stepping out to cut off the screen, making the dribble go out and around us.  But over the final eight minutes, I felt that we got a bit sloppy.  We weren't stepping out as far and the ball handlers were able to cut the corners on us.  Instead of being up four points, we were down by eight.  We just didn't execute as well over that period. 

"You can never trust what the NCAA formula will say, but we have a team that went 23-7 and took the #6-ranked team to the wire in our conference final.  You would hope that would be enough to get us into the regionals.

"We are also a very young team.  We only have two seniors.  This game tonight was a great opportunity for our youngsters to experience playing in a pressure environment.  I hope that we can still be practicing next Monday and that this young team will have the opportunity to experience an NCAA Tournament environment."

TARLETON STATE NOTES
* Tarleton head coach Lonn Reisman has 11 20-wn seasons in his 22 years as head coach of the Texans.
* The Texans have won 20 games 7 of the last 9 seasons.
* This is the Texans sixth LSC Championship Tournament Finals since the 2002 and broke a tie with West Texas A&M for playing in the most championship games during that stretch. The only Texan win came with a 69-66 victory over Northeastern State in 2004.
* The Texans are 3-3 inside Bartlesville High School's Bruin Field House in the last three seasons in the arena.
* The Texans are fourth in all-time winning percentage in the postseason tournament with a 16-11 record (.592). That is third among active LSC schools behind Midwestern State (16-5, .761), and West Texas A&M (29-11, .725.)