Three Lone Star Conference men's basketball teams played in first-round games Saturday at the NCAA Division II South Central Regional, with Midwestern State and Southeastern Oklahoma advancing while West Texas A&M was eliminated.

MSU, the LSC South Division and overall champion, defeated WTAMU, 86-81, while LSC North Division champion SOSU beat Emporia State, 79-66.

MSU and SOSU will play for the third time this season in the semifinals on Sunday at 5 p.m.

The eight-team tournament, being played in Warrensburg, Mo., on the University of Central Missouri campus, continues with semifinals on Sunday before the championship contest on Tuesday. The regional winner advances to the NCAA Division II Men's Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass.

Here's a closer look at Saturday's first-round games:

MIDWESTERN STATE 86, WEST TEXAS A&M 81

Midwestern State University senior Eric Dawson saved the best scoring game of his career for the NCAA Division II Tournament, scoring 33 points with 10 rebounds and three blocked shots in leading the Mustangs to an 86-81 triumph over West Texas A&M in the NCAA Division II South Central Region quarterfinals Saturday at UCM Multipurpose Building.

MSU (24-6) defeated WT (18-11) for the third straight time, a first since 2000 when MSU went to the regional finals.

Dawson, a first-team All-South Central Region performer, collected 25 points in the second half on his way to a new career scoring high. The 6-9 senior from San Antonio/Sam Houston nailed 13-of-20 shots from the floor and 7-of-9 from the foul line as he tallied his 22nd double-double to lead Divisions I and II in that category.

Senior Drew Coffman added 21 points for the Mustangs, while senior Chad Rickett connected for 16 points.

Junior Christopher Reay grabbed eight rebounds and junior Chris Davis seven as to assist Dawson on the boards.

West Texas A&M got 21 points from South Central Region Co-Player of the Year Damien Lolar who also led the Buffs with seven boards. Senior Kevin "Chip" Green added 18 points, while Chris Hinz dropped in 17 for the Buffaloes.

WT got the first points of the game on a Hinz layup, marking the first time in four games that the Mustangs had trailed in a game.

MSU broke open the close contest for a time with an 18-5 run near the end of the first half to take a 12-point advantage.

The Buff answered to close the gap to eight at 38-30 when halftime rolled around.

WT came out of the locker room hot, opening the half with a 7-0 run in the first three minutes to pull back within one.

MSU went on a 12-5 run to take an eight-point advantage with 13:57 to play only to have the Buffs retaliate with a13-5 run to tie the game at 55 with 10:55 remaining when Green buried a three-pointer.

The squads traded the lead until the last four-and-a half minutes.

WT grabbed a 64-63 advantage with 4:34 remaining on a Lolar layup, but the Mustangs quickly answered.

Coffman got a jumper for a 65-64 lead with 4:13 to play and after a missed three-pointer, Rickett sliced through the lane for a layup that gave MSU a three-point lead.

After senior Rod Jacobs blocked a Pierre Barlow jumper, the rebound by Dawson of a missed three started the parade to the foul line for MSU.

Dawson hit the charity tosses with 3:03 to play and started a string of 15 consecutive made free throws for the Mustangs. Dawson was 5-of-5 in the stretch, Coffman 6-of-6 and Rickett 4-of-4 down the stretch which never allowed the Buffaloes to really get back in it.

-courtesy of MSU Sports Information

SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA 79, EMPORIA STATE 66

Jason Stampley had it right.

It was the play of the game, but it didn't specifically kickstart a run nor did it help Southeastern Oklahoma State surge ahead of Emporia State Saturday night in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional at Multipurpose Building on the campus of the University of Central Missouri.

The Savage had already done each of those things when Stampley dove headfirst through the cheerleaders crashing through the fencing along the baseline, while feeding a perfect strike for a Matt White for layup.

The energy is what helped the Savage Storm reel off mini runs of 13-0, 9-0 and 6-0 to feed a larger 28-4 avalanche allowing Southeastern to come away with a 79-66 win.

The Savage Storm will face Midwestern State for the third time this year Sunday night at 5 p.m. for the right advance to the South Central Regional Championship game Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

But Southeastern didn't have the momentum in the first half as Emporia State used a deliberate attack allowing the Hornets to forge a 31-26 halftime lead.

And the Savage Storm were a little taken back by the surrounding in their first NCAA Division II national tournament appearance and first appearance in a national tournament of any kind since 1997.

It wasn't that way in the second half.

After Donta Wilson hit a 3-pointer to give Emporia State its largest lead of the night 1:30 into the second half at 34-28, the Savage Storm responded with layups by Matt White and Kyric Rambo sandwiched around a pair of Eric Babers free throws to knot the game at 34-34.

That was just a taste of things to come.

Southeastern erupted for 13-straight as five different players scored points push the Savage Storm advantage to 52-42 with 8:03 to go.

Rambo played a key role in the second half by scoring 10 of his 13 points off of the bench including back-to-back 3's that helped the Savage Storm sustain a 22-2 run over a six-minute stretch that became a 28-4 deluge after Stampley connected on his third 3-pointer of the game with 4:05 to go.

Babers notched his 16th double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds while dishing out five more assists.

White added 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting with five rebounds, while Steve Harrel contributed an all-around effort with 10 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

-courtesy of SOSU Sports Information