Five Lone Star Conference men’s basketball programs were undefeated last week headlined by No. 14 Texas A&M-Kingsville’s two wins over No. 25 St. Edward’s. No. 5 West Texas A&M, No. 10 Lubbock Christian, No. 15 DBU and UT Tyler also went unblemished. Midwestern State and Oklahoma Christian split their two-game series in Oklahoma City over the weekend.
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 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
Will Chayer, Texas A&M-Kingsville, JR, Mechanical Engineering, F, Corpus Christi, Texas, Veterans Memorial HS
Will Chayer led the Javelinas in scoring in both games against No. 25 St. Edward’s as the Hogs erased a pair of double-digit deficits to topple Hilltoppers twice. On Thursday night, TAMUK's junior forward shot 8-of-8 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line, scored 20 points, snatched nine rebounds and blocked three shots to aid the Javs 27-point comeback in an 86-83 win in Austin. In Saturday's rematch, Chayer poured in another 20 points while shooting 7-of-13 from the floor and adding four more rebounds, two steals and a block to help TAMUK squeak out an 83-82 victory for their 11th straight win. Chayer's 20.0 points per game was accompanied by a 71.4 shooting percentage and four blocked shots, all team-highs.
DEFENSIVE
Jordan Wilson, Texas A&M-Kingsville, JR, Business, G, Blytheville, Ark., Sharyland Pioneer HS
Jordan Wilson fell a single rebound shy of averaging a double-double for the week while contributing some last-second heroics as the Javelinas pulled off a pair of victories over No. 25 St. Edward's. The Hogs trailed by as many as 27 on Thursday, but Wilson's 23-point 11-rebound night helped his team come all the way back to win, 86-83. His two free throws with 20 seconds remaining provided the go-ahead points and his blocked shot with 9 seconds left helped ice the game for TAMUK. On Saturday, the junior guard contributed 11 more points and nine boards, the last of which secured the win in the closing moments, allowing the Javelinas to hold on to an 83-82 victory for their program record-tying 11th consecutive win. Wilson finished the week averaging 17.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game with four assists, two blocked shots and a steal.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
D-14 Chandler Jacobs, DBU
D-21 Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian
J-5 B.J. Maxwell, St. Edward’s
J-11 Chandler Jacobs, DBU (3)
J-18 Chandler Jacobs, DBU (4)
J-25 Ricky Lujan, DBU
F-1 Jordan Horn, UT Permian Basin
F-8 Will Chayer, Texas A&M-Kingsville (2)
Defensive
D-14 Logan Cook, St. Edward's
D-21 Qua Grant, West Texas A&M
J-5 Chandler Jacobs, DBU (2)
J-11 Qua Grant, West Texas A&M (2)
J-18 Emmanuel Gant, UT Tyler
J-25 Chandler Jacobs, DBU (5)
F-1 Will Chayer, Texas A&M-Kingsville
F-8 Jordan Wilson, Texas A&M-Kingsville
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Joel Murray, West Texas A&M, had another stellar weekend for the Buffs as the junior averaged 22 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in a pair of victories over Angelo State. The Rowlett native recorded his second double-double of the season on Thursday with 25 points and 12 rebounds to go along with six assists as WT tied a program record with 21 3-pointers. In Saturday’s 107-77 victory over the Rams, Murray had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead the Buffs to their 13th straight road win. He is the only player in the LSC to rank in the Top 10 in scoring, rebounding and assists.
Daniel Venzant, St. Edward's, led the Hilltoppers in scoring averaging 21.0 points per game while shooting 65 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range with 12 assists and five rebounds.
Marco Foster, Oklahoma Christian, played every minute of every game while leading the Eagles to a 2-1 week, averaging 20.7 points and 5.3 rebounds. On Monday at UAFS, he had a performance for the ages, going 9-of-15 from 3-point range and scoring 29 points as the Eagles – who had only eight available players – won 75-56. His nine 3-pointers were the most this season in a game by a Lone Star Conference player (and just two off OC’s school record) and his 29 points ranks as the second-highest single-game total ever by an OC freshman. In a 79-69 win over Midwestern State on Friday, he went 5-of-12 from 3-point range and scored 17 points. He added 16 points on Saturday as the Eagles fell 85-76 to the Mustangs, making 4-of-12 3-point attempts.
Jalen White, DBU, helped lift No. 15 DBU to a pair of wins over Texas A&M-Commerce, averaging 17.0 points per game in the Patriots' two victories. In Thursday's road win over the Lions, White set a new career-high with a 23-point performance and grabbed a team-high six rebounds as the Patriots won in Commerce for the first time since 1979. On Saturday, White totaled 11 points of 4-of-6 shooting from the field. For the week, White shot 55 percent from the field and connected on 7-of-16 shots from three-point range.
Paul Williams, Angelo State, led the Rams in scoring on the weekend averaging 18.5 points per game against West Texas A&M. He has tallied 20-plus points four times this season and is shooting 87 percent from the free throw line.
Gonzalo Corbalan, Lubbock Christian, was unstoppable in Friday night's win over UAFS, setting a new career-high with 32 points on 9-12 shooting. Almost half his points came from the free throw line, where he was 12-15. It was tied for the sixth-most points in a game by an LSC player this season, and he pulled down seven rebounds as well. Corbalan did not score in Saturday's win, but still contributed with four rebounds, one block and two steals.
Da'Zhon Wyche, UT Tyler, led UT Tyler's defense in a 76-66 win over Cameron on Sunday, Feb. 7, and collected 4 of the Patriots' 9 steals, as UT Tyler forced 22 Aggie turnovers to produce a 20-5 advantage in points off of turnovers.
Qua Grant, West Texas A&M, continues to do it all for the fifth-ranked Buffs as the junior averaged 20.5 points, 10 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game in two wins over Angelo State last week. He scored 22 points with six boards and three steals in Thursday’s followed by his 13th career double-double in Saturday’s 30-point victory over the Rams. He had 14 rebounds, 11 of those on the offensive glass, to record his first double-double on the road since his freshman season.
Chandler Jacobs, DBU, led the No. 15 Patriots to two wins over A&M-Commerce with a strong defensive effort that included 14 defensive rebounds and five steals. Jacobs and the Patriots held the Lions to .436 shooting from the field and a 70-point average. In Thursday's victory at Commerce, Jacobs totaled six rebounds on the defensive end and picked up pair of steals as DBU defeated the Lions on the road for the first time since 1979. Two days later, Jacobs pulled down nine defensive boards and registered three steals in an 80-69 win at the Burg Center. Jacobs also averaged 15.5 ppg in DBU's two wins.