Grayer’s Career Night Lifts Mustangs Past Commerce - Lone Star Conference Skip To Main Content
Jeremy Enlow

Men's Basketball By Nick Eatman

Grayer’s Career Night Lifts Mustangs Past Commerce

While it didn’t happen right away, the No. 1 seed MSU Mustangs finally pulled away  from eighth-seeded Texas A&M-Commerce in the second half and advanced to the semifinals of the LSC Championships with a 92-84 win over the Lions.

The biggest reason for the Mustangs’ second-half surge was simple: Kevin Grayer.

The senior guard might have been a second-team All-LSC selection, but he was all-world for the Mustangs Wednesday night. Grayer poured in a career-high 33 points on 11 of 16 shooting. Grayer was also 8 of 9 from the free-throw line. And if he wasn’t scoring, Grayer was coming up with loose rebounds, getting key steals or even blocking a key 3-point attempt as the Lions were trying to get back in the game. The emphatic capper occurred in the final seconds when Grayer made a steal in the open and slammed through a one-handed jam for the final points of the game.

But Grayer wasn’t the only star for the Mustangs, who also got a career-high performance from Derek Kaster, who scored 18 points and had six rebounds.

The Mustangs also had 14 points off the bench by Keith Spellman. Chris Buttermore scored nine, including some big shots in the first-half to halt two different runs by Commerce.

In the second half, MSU shot 69 percent from the field (20 of 29) and finished the game 58.3 percent and 7 of 14 from 3-point land.

The Lions were led by a strong outing from Andrew Davis, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Preston Whitley led his team with 19 points, while Stefon Carson and Devondrick Walker each scored 13.

The Lions’ season ends with a 14-15 record, while MSU advances to Friday night’s semifinal game against the winner of Incarnate Word/Texas A&M-Kingsville in Thursday’s 4-5 game. The victory improves MSU to 20-7 overall this year and gives the Mustangs their fourth straight 20-win season and the fifth in the past six years.

This also marked the third straight year the Mustangs defeated A&M-Commerce in the LSC Championship quarterfinal round. The Lions gave MSU its first LSC loss back in early January but the Mustangs returned the favor with an 18-point win on Feb. 20.

But this rubber match Wednesday night was quite a battle early on as the Lions and Mustangs traded the lead several times in the first half. Commerce led 41-38 until MSU finished the first half with a 7-0 run. And then in the second half, MSU used another 7-0 run, which included five points from Grayer.

MSU eventually pushed the lead to 18 but Commerce trimmed it to 11 before another turning point occurred. Carson had an open lane to the basket but missed a dunk attempt, resulting in the Mustangs’ possession. Quickly the other way, Grayer buried a 3-pointer to move the lead back to 14.

The Mustangs led by as much as 20 but a few late 3-pointers for Commerce, along with some missed free throws by MSU, gave the Lions a chance to cut into the final score.
 

MSU vs AMC Gallery

 
MSU Notes
  • Kevin Grayer led Midwestern State with a career-high of 33 surpassing his prior best of 24. It was the most points by a Mustang this season.
  • With 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting, Derek Kaster set a season-high bettering his prior best of 14.
  • The Mustangs opened the second half with a 20-8 run to take a control.
  • Midwestern State hit 70% of its shots in the second half and finished at 59.9% shooting for the floor. It was the Mustangs best shooting performance of the season.
  • The 95 points by Midwestern are the second most points this season. They set their high in the final regular-season game with 105 against Paul Quinn.
 
A&M-C Notes
  • TAMUC dropped its fifth-straight game to end the season and lost eight of its final 11.
  • The Lions are 24-31 all-time in the LSC Tournament and now 5-10 under head coach Sam Walker.
  • MSU leads the all-time series 48-32 as Walker is 5-17 against the Mustangs as the teams have met the last three seasons in the quarterfinals of the LSC Championship.
  • TAMUC finishes the season 14-15.
  • The 92 points are the most allowed this season by TAMUC (previous most was in a 96-90 win at Angelo State (Feb. 9).
  • TAMUC falls to 13-4 when scoring 74 points or more.
  • The Lions shot 36.5 for the game which was under their 36.8 average which they had shot in their last four games coming in.
  • Andrew Davis tallied his team-leading sixth double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds.