The LSC Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year were as advertised Thursday night in the quarterfinal round of the Lone Star Conference Championship.

      Winners of both awards, Texas A&M-Commerce standout Darrell Williams was too strong for West Texas A&M, posting 25 points and an LSC Championship record 21 rebounds in the Lions’ 79-64 win over the Buffaloes. Williams became the first player to post at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in an LSC Championship game since 1980. 

      The win was Thursday’s only victory by the higher seed. After three upsets in quarterfinal action earlier in the day, the fourth-seeded Lions led from start to finish to advance to Friday’s semifinals where they will get No. 1 seed Tarleton State.

      The season ends for WT at 17-12. The undersized Buffaloes have relied on hot 3-point shooting all year but couldn’t hit enough bombs Thursday night, going just 10 of 29 from beyond the arc. Tez Dumars finished his career with 25 points to lead the Buffs, who also got 13 from David Chavlovich, the LSC Freshman of the Year.

      Williams’ 20-20 effort paced the Lions, who also got 11 points off the bench from Everrett Pleasant. Center Christian Macauley, the LSC’s Defensive Player of the Year, had nine points and eight rebounds.

      The Lions jumped out to a 6-0 lead and pushed it to 22-4 before the Buffaloes started to knock down shots. But A&M-Commerce led by as much as 24 points in the first half and grabbed a 42-23 halftime lead.

      WT tried to keep it close and got as close as 11 with 6:09 to go when Dumars hit his fifth 3-pointer, but the Buffs would never get closer as Williams scored four quick points to push the back to 15, the eventual final margin.

      The Lions outrebounded WT 47-34 and dominated inside with a 42-20 edge in the paint. 



 
Texas A&M-Commerce Notes
 

• A&M-Commerce advanced to the semifinals of the LSC tournament for the second straight season… The Lions are now 26-32 all-time in 37 LSC tournament appearances
• The Lions improved to 22-7 overall and to 4-0 on a neutral court and will play at 8:30 p.m. on Friday in the semifinals against Tarleton State… A&M-Commerce went 0-2 against the Texans this season, including a 20-point loss in the regular-season finale
• Darrell Williams broke the championship record with 21 rebounds and notched his league-leading 20th double-double of the season with 25 points against the Buffs … It was the third game with 20 rebounds this season and the 21 rebounds matched his career-high which he previously had against Arlington Baptist
• The Lions opened the game on a 6-0 run and jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the early stages of the game on a LaDon Carnegie 3-pointer… The early-stage dominance expanded to 16-2 before the Buffs stopped a 10-0 run… A&M-Commerce led 41-23 at halftime and the game never crept into single-digits in the second half
• The Lions never trailed in the game and owned the lead for 39:20 after Anthony Adams opened scoring with a layup 40 seconds into action
• A&M-Commerce owned a 47-34 rebounding advantage and had a 42-20 advantage in the paint
• The Lions went 3-0 against the Buffs this season and have now won five straight games against WT

 
       
West Texas A&M Notes

• Senior Tez Dumars will finish his career with 1,230 points and move into No. 4 on the WT all-time career scoring list surpassing former WT-great Maurice Cheeks.
• West Texas A&M is now 47-30 all-time against Texas A&M-Commerce and 5-5 in the LSC Tournament.
• West Texas A&M’s head coach Tom Brown finished with an 17-12 record in his first season.
• It is just the fourth loss by double digits this season for WT.
• The 23 points in the first half ties a season low for the Buffs.