Men Close with LSC Loss

March 3, 2010

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Southwestern Oklahoma State University showed some toughness and grit but were unable to get past Midwestern State losing 77-65 in the first round of the LSC Tournament. The Bulldogs end their season at 12-16 while Midwestern State improves to 26-2 and advances to the semifinals of the LSC tournament. The Mustangs face Northeastern State on Friday afternoon.

SWOSU stayed within striking distance for much of the game before MSU pulled away in the closing minutes. The Bulldogs got within four after Damian Henderson buried a three to trim MSU’s lead to 51-47 with 6:00 to play. Henderson scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half and was the offensive spark for the Bulldogs in the final 20 minutes.

SWOSU’s first-year coach Charlie Schaef was pleased with his team’s effort despite the disappointing loss.

“Obviously, it is not the way we wanted to end the season with a loss, but I couldn’t be more proud of our group,” Schaef said.  “We won six of our last nine games and had to work extremely hard to get this point. No one who watched this game could have faulted our effort.”

Craig Green had 25 points to lead the Mustangs and was six-of-11 from three-point distance. The rest of his MSU teammates were just one-of-14 from that distance.

In addition to Henderson’s 21 points, SWOSU got double figure scoring by Chancellor Jones with 14 points and Ross Moore with 10 points in his hometown return.

After Henderson’s trey, MSU then went on a 12-3 run and when Green hit another three the Mustangs led 63-50 with 2:54 to play. SWOSU got within seven points in the final minutes but MSU hit five of six free throws down the stretch to keep the Bulldogs at bay.

SWOSU ended the game making 23-of-54 shots for 43% and were seven-of-17 from three-point distance for 41%. The Bulldogs hurt themselves from the line where they made just 12-of-26 attempts for 46%.

MSU was 21-of-50 for 42% and were seven-of-25 for 46% from three-point distance. The Mustangs were 28-of-38 from the line for 74%.

MSU outrebounded SWOSU 43-32 and committed three fewer turnovers, 17-14.