One of the newcomers to the Lone Star Conference this year, St. Edwards’s picked up its first-ever LSC Championship victory, beating Tarleton, 60-52 in the quarterfinal round Friday at Comerica Center.
            The Hilltoppers, the No. 2 seed, improved to 26-3 on the season and will advance to Saturday’s semifinals to play 3-seed Texas A&M-Kingsville at 8:30 p.m. Tarleton’s season comes to an end at 18-12.
            SEU junior Ashton Spears showed why he was a first-team All-LSC selection, leading all scorers with 22 points, along with three steals, while playing all 40 minutes. Lucas Doria came off the bench for the Hilltoppers to score 18 points on 9 of 10 shooting from the floor. August Haas, another first-team All-LSC pick, had a quiet night scoring with just seven points, but made up for it with eight assists and four steals.
            St. Edwards’s had 13 steals and forced 21 turnovers. A defensive effort like that was needed considering the team shot 3 of 28 from 3-point land.
            Tarleton grabbed its only lead (48-47) in the second half on a free throw by Javontae Hopkins with 7:40 play. But on the next possession, Dorian Lopez scored in the paint and then Spears hit a running layup to give SEU a three-point lead it would never relinquish.
            Down the stretch, Tarleton made just one of its last eight field goals.
            Zach Naylor came off the bench to lead the Texans with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Clashon Gaffney had 13 points. First-team All-LSC pick Josh Hawley had just one point, going 0-5 from the field.

St. Edward’s Notes:

• St. Edward’s completed a three-game sweep over the Texans this season, beating Tarleton twice in February, including an 91-79 win in Stephenville.
• The Hilltoppers entered the weekend ranked No. 2 both in the LSC Championship and the South Central Region.
• August Haas, the school’s all-time leader in assists, upped his total to 450 with nine assists on Friday.
• St. Edward’s ranks fifth in the NCAA Division II in turnovers forced and forced 21 more against Tarleton on Friday.

 
Tarleton Notes:  

• The Texans failed to advance past the LSC Championship quarterfinal round for just the second time in the last 11 seasons.  
• Josh Hawley became the school’s all-time leader in steals with one on Friday, giving him 168.
• Tarleton suffered its first loss this year when pulling down at least 40 rebounds. The Texans, who had exactly 40 on Friday, was 8-0 this season with 40 or more.