Six Lone Star Conference men's basketball teams have started the 2021-22 season undefeated, including No. 3 West Texas A&M, No. 9 Lubbock Christian, No. 19 DBU, Angelo State, Texas A&M International and Western New Mexico. WT is 5-0 on the year, picking up three wins in the D2CCA Tipoff Classic. LCU and St. Mary's both picked up wins over No. 5 Colorado Mines last week, while WT and DBU registered wins over No. 4 Colorado Mesa to open their seasons.
LSC men’s basketball teams are 21-12 overall and 18-12 against the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the other conference in the South Central Region.
LSC schedule and results available here:
https://lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=mbball
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Devaughn Thomas, Angelo State, JR, Kinesiology, G, New Orleans, La., Comeaux HS
Thomas led the Rams to a 2-0 start to the season, picking up wins in the LSC/RMAC Challenge while leading the team in scoring against New Mexico Highlands and Fort Lewis. He averaged 23.5 points per game during the weekend, scoring over 20 in each game while shooting 68 percent from the field, and 80 percent from beyond the arc. He also dished out seven assists, collected 11 rebounds and added four blocks.
DEFENSIVE
Kavon Booker, West Texas A&M, SO, Sports and Exercise Science, Schertz, Texas, Clemens HS
Booker has led a WT defense that has limited opponents to just a 65.8 scoring average. The sophomore averages a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game, including a career-high 11 in the No. 3 Buffs 72-63 victory against No. 4 Colorado Mesa. This season he's collected six blocks with four steals and 33 total rebounds, including 10 offensive boards.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
N-15 Devaughn Thomas, Angelo State
Defensive
N-15 Kavon Booker, West Texas A&M
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Derek Luna, Texas A&M-Kingsville, went off in back-to-back games to begin the season and put his name in the Javelina record book in the process. On Friday night, Luna tied a program record by sinking nine three-pointers and finished the evening with a career-high 27 points. On Saturday, he did one better by tallying 28 points in an 84-74 Javelina win over Chadron State, hitting 10-of-13 from the floor. For the week, Luna 67.9 percent from the field, including 13-of-20 on treys and his average of 27.5 points per game, is the highest in the LSC.
Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian, reached double-figures in each of the Chaps' wins on opening weekend as they started the year 2-0. He posted a double-double on Friday against Regis, scoring 13 points on an efficient 4-6 performance while pulling down 11 rebounds. Then he was the team's leading scorer on Saturday against No. 5 Colorado School of Mines, pouring in 25 points, 14 of which came in the second half as the Chaps pulled away from the Orediggers.
Kobe Magee, St. Mary's, was the offensive catalyst for the Rattlers during a 1-1 start to their season at the South Central Regional Crossover. Magee scored 17 points, collected six rebounds, and had one steal against No. 5 School of Mines. Kobe was 3-7 from behind the arc in a dominating upset win to open the season. On Saturday, Magee scored a team-high 27 points against Regis, going 10-23 from the floor and hitting seven 3s. Kobe also had six assists and seven more rebounds to complete his weekend.
Larry Wise, West Texas A&M, came in as a transfer and has immediately made an impact for the nationally-ranked third Buffs that moved to 5-0 with a season sweep over Western Colorado. Through five games, Wise averages 17.0 points and recorded a season-high 26 against the Mountaineers going 9-for-14 from the field, 2-for-5 from the deep and 6-for-6 at the line.
Daniel Venzant, St. Edward's, led the Hilltoppers in scoring in the opening weekend of action as SEU easily beat Colorado Christian 71-47 before narrowly falling to #4 Colorado Mesa 84-77. He was incredibly efficient, shooting 50% from the floor and 33.3% from three-point range. He averaged 15.5 points per game in just 23 minutes per game.
William Heather, DBU, led the Patriots to a pair of wins over No. 4 Colorado Mesa and Colorado Christian, posting a team-high 15.0 ppg average. In DBU's upset of the 4th-ranked Mavericks, Heather scored a game-high 21 points, going 9-14 from the field and 3-4 from three-point range. Heather also dished out four assists in the Patriots' two wins to open the season.
Logan Cook, St. Edward’s, averaged nearly ten rebounds per game as SEU won over Colorado Christian before narrowly falling to #4 Colorado Mesa. Logan was the leading rebounder while also leading the Hilltoppers in steals and blocks and was third on the team in assists.
Connor Slater, Cameron, put in some tough work in the paint as the Cameron men went 1-1 to open the 2021-22 season this past weekend. The Elgin, Okla. product scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and rejected four shots in CU’s win over CSU-Pueblo on Friday night. Slater helped Cameron hold the Thunderwolves to under 38 percent shooting from the floor, something the team did once last season. He then added 14 points, seven rebounds, and two more blocks against UCCS the next night.
Dayante McClellan, Texas A&M-Kingsville, was locked in defensively in TAMUK's first two games, as he blocked two shots, snatched three steals and collected 17 rebounds for an average of 8.5 boards per game, third-best in the LSC. In the season opener against South Dakota Mines, McClellan pulled down eight rebounds, swatted two shots and added a steal. He then picked up nine more boards the next night against Chadron State, scored eight points and added two more steals as the Javelinas earned their first win of the year, 84-74, over the Eagles.