For the second straight year and the fourth time in five years, Midwestern State is headed to the LSC Championship final after a convincing 85-73 win over Incarnate Word.

The Mustangs used a 14-2 run to end the first half and never looked back, cruising to their third win over the Cardinals this season. MSU improves to 21-7 on the year and will face Tarleton State in Saturday night’s championship game, scheduled for 8:30 p.m. tip at the Allen Event Center.

The Mustangs have defeated TSU twice in the last four years in the championship round. The two teams split the regular-season series.

Against the Cardinals, Cam Adderley scored a season-high 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds to lead the way for the Mustangs. Corbin Thomas had 18 points, while Kevin Grayer and Derrell Gibbs each scored nine. Gibbs added five steals for the Mustangs, who out-rebounded UIW 37-19.

The season ends for the Cardinals at 14-14. After scoring 36 points Thursday night against Texas A&M-Kingsville, Dionelle Rucker scored only eight points on 3 of 6 shooting. Lyn’Dale Brown had 17 points, while Denzel Livingston scored 12 and Mitchell Badillo added 11.

The Mustangs led by as much as 23 with 10:08 to play but the Cardinals added a few late buckets to make the score look more respectable.

With the Mustangs leading 34-26 early in the second half, Adderley scored all 10 points in a 10-2 run that spanned just 1:51 on the clock, pushing the lead to 44-28.
 


 
Midwestern State Notes

• Midwestern State moves on to seventh tournament final appearance and fifth in last seven years.  Mustangs looking for seventh title.
• MSU will play a familiar opponent in Tarleton State.  It’s the third time in last four years the Mustangs and Texans have played in championship game.
• With the win, Midwestern State:

... improved to 21-7 on the season.
... improved to 23-6 (.793) all time in the LSC Postseason Tournament.
... improved to 7-3 all time in LSC Postseason Tournament semifinal round games.
... improved to 14-11 all time against Incarnate Word.
... improved to 1-0 all-time against the Cardinals in LSC Postseason Tournament play.
... improved to 3-0 all time against Incarnate Word on neutral floors.
... improved to 5-0 all time at the Allen Events Center.
... improved to 14-2 all time on neutral floors in LSC Postseason Tournament play.
... improved to 50-11 overall under head coach Nelson Haggerty.
... improved to 131-30 since the start of the 2008-09 season.
... improved to 5-1 on March 8.
 

• Cam Adderley led the Mustangs with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting against Incarnate Word.  He has scored 10-or-more points in 14 of his 18 starts this season.

 
 
Incarnate Word Notes
 

• By jumping out on Midwestern State 12-8 Friday night, Incarnate Word had outscored their opponents 40-20 over their last 12:09 of game action – dating back to the 1:28 mark of the fourth quarter in their quarterfinal match against Texas A&M-Kingsville.

 

• In the two first halves of their LSC Tournament weekend, Incarnate Word is shooting just .306 (15-49) from the floor while allowing its opponents to shoot .424 (28-66) from the floor.

 

• After MSU drilled a 3-ball in the final seconds of the opening half, UIW found themselves trailing by double figures yet again. In the first round against TAMUK, the Cardinals trailed by double figures for a total of 10:21. For their entire trip to Allen, the Cardinals spent 29:02 of game time trailing by double figures.

 

• The 20 assists by Midwestern State are a season-high given up by the Cardinals.

 

• Isai Pina’s eight points are a season and career high.

 

• Incarnate Word remains one of only two schools in the conference to have never appeared in the LSC Championship game. Cameron is the other.