Three Lone Star Conference men's basketball programs went undefeated in league games last week as Lubbock Christian, Midwestern State, and UT Permian Basin all picked up a pair of wins. UT Tyler and West Texas A&M both went unbeaten in non-conference play. Texas A&M-Kingsville and Angelo State each went 1-1 in conference splitting the weekend matchup in San Angelo.
LSC schedule and results available here:
https://lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=mbball
LSC BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
The LSC Men’s Basketball Championship is set for March 2-5-6, 2021, with quarterfinal games on campus sites on Tuesday, March 2. The four winning teams will advance to the final site at the highest remaining seed to play semifinal games on Friday, March 5, followed by the championship game on Saturday, March 6. The top eight teams will qualify for the tournament based on the recently announced
basketball point rating system. The divisional champions will automatically qualify for the tournament and be seeded according to the point rating system. All teams must play a minimum of 11 games to qualify for the conference tournament.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian, SR, Exercise Science, F, Decatur, Texas, Texas, Decatur HS
Parker Hicks had an impressive opening weekend to his 2020-21 season as LCU topped Oklahoma Christian twice in a pair of wins. The senior dropped 24 points and 13 rebounds to record a double-double in an 82-70 win over the Eagles to open the weekend hitting 10-of-14 shots from the floor and pulling down 11 defensive rebounds. The senior scored 17 points in Saturday’s win and pulled down four more rebounds. For the week, Hicks hit 17-of-28 shots from the floor to shoot 60.7 percent.
DEFENSIVE
Qua Grant, West Texas A&M, JR, Sports and Exercise Science, G, Waxahachie, Texas, Waxahachie HS
Qua Grant opened the season with his 10th career double-double in the third-ranked Buffs 100-70 non-conference win over Texas A&M-Commerce on Wednesday afternoon at the First United Bank Center in Canyon. Grant pulled down 10 rebounds, including eight on the defensive glass, and added a game-high 27 points for the double-double. The junior also picked up six steals and helped hold the Lions to just 41.5 percent from the floor and 25.9 percent from 3-point range.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
D-14 Chandler Jacobs, DBU
D-21 Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian
Defensive
D-14 Logan Cook, St. Edward's
D-21 Qua Grant, West Texas A&M
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Brock Schreiner, Cameron, had a career week offensively despite a pair of close losses to UT Permian Basin. The Choctaw, Okla. native averaged 29.5 points while shooting 52.6 percent from the field and going 16-16 from the free throw line against the Falcons. In the series opener, Schreiner recorded a career-best 31 points, had six rebounds, and three assists, while going 12-12 from the charity stripe. He followed that up with a 28-point outing against UTPB on Saturday.
Joel Murray, West Texas A&M, moved up to 16th in West Texas A&M scoring list in the Buffs 100-70 victory over Texas A&M-Commerce on Wednesday afternoon at the First United Bank Center. The junior, who has now scored 1,124 points, had 24 points against the Lions going 8-of-14 from the floor, 3-of-6 from 3-point range and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. He also had three assists and two steals as the Buffs scored in triple digits in the season opener for the first time since 1998-99.
Sam Baker, Angelo State, led the Rams to victory in his first home game with 27 points, defeating TAMUK 83-66. Averaged over 22 points for the weekend and has recorded 18-plus points in three of the four games this season.
Trevion Lamar, UT Permian Basin, had a huge week including a 35-point outburst in the Falcons comeback win over Cameron. He had 16 points in the second half as the Falcons erased a 12-point deficit. His 16 made free throws were just two off the most in program history. He added another 22 points on Saturday as the Falcons improved to 5-0, the second-best start in program history.
Devin Bethely, Texas A&M-Commerce, led the Lions in scoring in a 1-1 week with a loss at West Texas A&M and a win at St. Mary's. He had a double-double of 15 points and 10 assists in the win at St. Mary's, and had 18 points and four assists at WT. He ranks 4th in the LSC in three-point percentage and 2nd in three-pointers per game. His 7.0 assists per game ranks second in the league.
Elijah Elliott, Oklahoma Christian, recorded a pair of double-digit scoring performances against one of the LSC’s top teams, Lubbock Christian. The freshman point guard led the Eagles with 21 points and four assists in an 82-70 loss to LCU on Friday, then added 11 points and three assists in an 80-67 loss to LCU on Saturday.
Tyrese Patterson, Texas A&M-Kingsville, contributed in every way for the Javelinas during the season's second weekend, averaging 10 points per game, grabbing 10 rebounds, handing out five assists and adding two steals and a blocked shot. On Friday against Angelo State, Patterson posted a team-high 14 points, shooting 6-of-10 from the field. One day later, he doled out a game-high four assists, helping facilitate an offense that shot 46.4 percent on the night and knocked down 11-of-26 from beyond-the-arc. Patterson's Saturday line also included six points and six rebounds in a 79-67 Javelina triumph.
Creighton Avery, Texas A&M-Kingsville, scored in double figures in both of TAMUK's games last week and hit 50 percent of his shots from the floor. In the Javelinas' first game against Angelo State, the junior guard tallied 11 points and set a new career-high with two blocked shots. Avery put up 10 points in the Hogs' 79-67 Saturday win, matched his career-best with five rebounds and helped his team limit the Rams to 39 percent shooting, their lowest mark of the season. Through four games, the Corpus Christi native has scored in double figures three times and has already tripled his total from last year in blocked shots.