Four Lone Star Conference men’s basketball teams closed the regular season with undefeated weeks. UAFS, Texas A&M-Kingsville and West Texas A&M all picked up a pair of wins, while St. Edward’s went 1-0.
            LSC men’s basketball teams are 260-242 overall this season and 17-20 against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams, the other league in the NCAA South Central Region.
            LSC schedule and results available here: https://lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=mbball
 
LSC BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
The LSC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship is set for March 3-5-6-7-8, 2020 with the opening round on campus (March 3), and the final eight teams at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas on Thursday-Sunday, March 5-8.  The top 12 men’s and women’s teams will qualify with seeding based on the conference standings (22 games). The divisional champions will automatically qualify and be seeded using the conference standings.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Tre Flowers, Texas A&M-Kingsville, JR, Kinesiology, G, Bryan, Texas, A&M Consolidated HS
Flowers helped the Javelinas close out the regular season with back-to-back home victories that put TAMUK at 20 wins for the first time since the 1995-96 season. In a 70-65 triumph over DBU on Thursday, Flowers buried 8-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-5 on threes, as he poured in a game-high 21 points and also tied for the team lead with three assists. He stayed hot during a Saturday clash against Tarleton, shooting 5-of-10 from the field and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc adding 16 more points in an 82-74 victory. For the week, Flowers shot 61.9 percent from the field, 53.8 percent from beyond the arc and averaged 18.5 points in his teams two wins.
 
DEFENSIVE
John Mouton, Texas A&M-Kingsville, SR, Criminology, G, Missouri City, Texas, Hightower HS
Mouton helped key the Javelina defense to consecutive wins over DBU and Tarleton in which the Hogs held their two opponents to an average of less than 70 points per game and outrebounded their foes, 67-49. Against the Patriots, Mouton contributed 11 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds as TAMUK won a nail-biter, 70-65. The senior also swiped two steals and a block in the win. Two days later, he helped his team beat the Texans, 82-74, scoring 10 points and pulling in another five rebounds in a game in which the Javelinas finished with 12 more boards than TSU. For the week, the Missouri City native averaged 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game as he helped his team get to 20 wins for the first time since 1995-96.
 
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
N-11     Joel Murray, West Texas A&M
N-18    Collin Turner, Angelo State
N-25    Pat Dembley, UT Permian Basin
D-2      Tre Flowers, Texas A&M-Kingsville
D-9      Jordan Lewis, Cameron
D-16    August Haas, St. Edward’s
D-23    Wayne Stewart, Texas A&M-Commerce
J-7       Corey Shervill, St. Edward’s
J-13     Caleb Jordan, St. Mary’s
J-20     Brian Halums, UAFS
J-27     Lloyd Daniels, Lubbock Christian
F-3      Lloyd Daniels, Lubbock Christian (2)
F-10    Chandler Jacobs, DBU
F-17    Brian Halums, UAFS (2)
F-24    Collin Turner, Angelo State (2)
M-2     Tre Flowers, Texas A&M-Kingsville (2)
 
Defensive
N-11    Qua Grant, West Texas A&M
N-18    Andres Ibarguen, Angelo State
N-25    Deonta Terrell, Texas A&M-Commerce
D-2      Clashon Gaffney, Tarleton
D-9      Tylan Dean, DBU
D-16    Ashton Spears, St. Edward’s
D-23    Joel Murray, West Texas A&M
J-7       Jonathyn Washington, DBU
J-13     Will Lienhard, Oklahoma Christian
J-20     Qua Grant, West Texas A&M (2)
J-27     Will Lienhard, Oklahoma Christian (2)
F-3      Dorian Lopez, St. Edward’s
F-10    Qua Grant, West Texas A&M (3)
F-17    Qua Grant, West Texas A&M (4)
F-24    Carter Brown, DBU
M-2     John Mouton, Texas A&M-Kingsville
 
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
     Brian Halums, UAFS, continued to put up outstanding numbers, latest of which against UT Tyler and A&M-Commerce, lead the Lions to a 2-0 weekend and an LSC tournament berth. Halums averaged 28.5 points throughout the weekend while shooting hot 51.4 percent from the field. He also recorded seven assists and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting 88.8 percent from the free throw line. When the Lions needed him the most, he carried the team with 39 points to punch the ticket to the conference tournament with a huge win against A&M-C.
 
      Paul Williams, Angelo State, dominated the Ram offense, scoring a career-high 26 points twice over the weekend. Despite going 1-1, he helped the Rams clinch the No. 4 spot and an automatic bye to conference tournament in Frisco. He shot 58.6 percent (17-of-29) from the field, including 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from downtown. He went 9-for-10 (90 percent) from the free throw line. He added nine assists and three steals.
 
     Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian, averaged 25.0 points per game as the Chaps went 1-1 in their final road trip of the season. He set a new career-high with 27 points in a high-scoring affair at UTPB and then scored 23 and pulled down 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the year in a win at Western New Mexico. The junior has led the team in scoring each of the last four games and scored at least 20 in three of their last four.
 
      Malik Sanders, Western New Mexico, was a key part of the Mustangs weekend success, going 1-1 including an 83-78 win over Angelo State. The Durham, N.C native scored a team high 20 points in the win, going 7-for-13 from the field and 4-for-6 beyond the arc. His offensive success carried over to Saturday, where the Mustangs fought a tough Lubbock Christian squad. Sanders was near perfect on the night, going 5-for-6 (FG), 5-for-5 (3FG) and 7-or-8 (FT). On the weekend Sanders racked up 42.0 points, shooting .632 from the field, .818 from deep and .750 at the foul line, to go along with 7 assists and 12 rebounds.
 
     Aubrey Johnson, Oklahoma Christian, saved OC’s postseason hopes with a spectacular second half in the Eagles’ 65-59 win over UT Tyler, scoring 20 of his 28 points as OC rallied from a 17-point deficit for a win that sealed a spot in the LSC tournament. He went 7-of-14 from 3-point range while adding a season-high eight rebounds. It was the fourth time this season he made seven or more 3-pointers in one game. Johnson enters the postseason tied for the most 3-pointers this season in the LSC (92).
 
    Joel Murray, West Texas A&M, continued to pace the Buffs as they pushed their win streak to 20 games this past weekend against Midwestern State and Cameron. The sophomore averaged 17 points, six rebounds and 5.5 assister per game while shooting 68.2 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from 3-point range and 100 percent from the free throw line. In Thursday's win over the Mustangs, the Rowlett product had 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists. He was even better on Saturday against Cameron, where he finished with 19 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals.
 
    Chandler Jacobs, DBU, led the Patriots to a 19-point victory over Texas A&M-International on Saturday afternoon. The senior guard poured in 14 points on 40 percent shooting along with a season-high seven assists to push the Patriots to their fifth consecutive season of at least 20 wins. Through two games, Jacobs combined for 32 points on 53 percent shooting and 10 rebounds.
 
    Andres Ibarguen, Angelo State, continued to dominate the boards for the Rams, grabbing 23 rebounds over the weekend. Against Western New Mexico, the 6-5 forward registered his 12th double-double with 25 points and 15 rebounds, placing him third all-time in program history. He went 11-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-6 from the free throw line. Against the Falcons, Ibarguen grabbed eight rebounds and added 23 points in 30 minutes of action. The Santa Marta, Colombia native leads the nation and conference in offensive rebounds with a 5.28 average but ranks second in conference for rebounds with a 10.0 average.
 
    Qua Grant, had another big weekend for the Buffs as they finished the regular season on a program record 20 game win streak. The sophomore averaged 14.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per contest as opponents only scored 63 points per game and shot 38.1 percent from the floor. After his 11-point, 7 rebound performance against Midwestern State on Thursday, the sophomore recorded his seventh double-double of the season against Cameron with 17 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four steals.
 
   Will Lienhard, Oklahoma Christian, recorded a pair of double-digit rebound games and blocked five shots as the Eagles split a pair of games, falling to Texas A&M-Commerce before rallying from a 17-point deficit to beat Texas-Tyler. In the latter game, the Eagles – with Lienhard at the center of their zone defense – limited the Patriots to only 23 second-half points. Against TAMUC, he posted a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds He leads the LSC in both rebounding (10.4 per game) and blocks (2.7 per game) and ranks seventh and sixth in NCAA Division II, respectively, in those statistical categories.
 
    Carter Brown, DBU, continued his dominant defensive play into the final week of the regular season, collecting a career high 14 rebounds (11 of them on the defensive glass) in Thursday’s matchup versus Texas A&M-Kingsville. The senior guard led a Patriot defense that harassed opponents to shoot just 40 percent from the field and score 39 points off turnovers through two games. The program’s all-time steals leader tacked three more onto the record book along with a block and 19 rebounds.