Five Lone Star Conference men's basketball teams completed perfect weeks, including No. 1 Lubbock Christian, which won a come-from-behind thriller against Angelo State to remain undefeated as they moved to 19-0. Midwestern State went 2-0 with a home upset over No. 12 West Texas A&M to open the week. Oklahoma Christian, St. Mary's and Texas A&M-Commerce were unbeaten last week. LCU remains atop the league standings at 7-0, followed by StMU at 4-1, DBU at 6-2 and TAMUC at 6-3.
LSC men’s basketball teams are 180-119 overall and 20-12 against the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the other conference in the South Central Region.
LSC schedule and results are available here:
https://lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=mbball
2022 LSC BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
The LSC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships are set for March 1-3-4-5-6, 2022, with the opening round on-campus on Tuesday, March 1. The final eight teams will advance to the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, for the quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds March 3-6. The top 12 men’s and women’s teams will qualify and be seeded based on the league standings following a single-round robin conference schedule (16 games).
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Jermane Carter, Midwestern State, SR, Psychology, F, Mount Laurel, N.J., Lenape HS
Carter averaged 20 points and 7.5 rebounds while leading Midwestern State to Lone Star Conference wins over No. 12 West Texas A&M and Cameron last week at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The 6-7 senior forward scored 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds while shooting 7-of-15 from the field, matching his season-high with four 3-pointers to help the Mustangs snap an eight-game slide against WT with a 100-90 win on Thursday night. Carter also blocked two shots, made a steal and posted three assists as MSU beat the Buffs for the first time since 2017. Carter delivered an efficient 19-point, eight-rebound performance in MSU's 79-55 win over Cameron on Saturday. The Mount Laurel, N.J. native connected on 7-of-10 shots with three 3-pointers to go along with two blocked and two steals. Carter shot 56 percent from the field (14-of-25) and 63.6 from the arc (7-of-11) for the week. He ranks sixth in the LSC in scoring (15.9 ppg), third in field goal percentage (.509) and is 12th in rebounding (6.1 rpg).
DEFENSIVE
Carson Hughes, DBU, SR, Sports Management, G, Keller, TX, Keller HS
Hughes led a DBU defense that earned a pair of victories and held opponents to 61.0 points per game on 39.4 percent shooting from the floor in a 2-1 week. The fourth-year guard recorded a steal and a game-high six defensive boards in the Patriots' 75-60 win at UT Tyler. On Thursday, Hughes helped limit Cameron to its lowest point total of the season in DBU's 89-53 win at the Burg Center. The senior added two defensive rebounds, a steal, and a block for a Patriots' defense that stifled the Aggies into a season-low 32 percent shooting and a 3-of-22 effort from three-point range. Hughes finished the week with season-highs in steals (4) and defensive rebounds (7) as DBU held No. 12 West Texas A&M to 72 points and a 23% 3-point performance.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
N-15 Devaughn Thomas, Angelo State
N-22 Matthew Wilson, UAFS
N-29 Zach Toussaint, West Texas A&M
D-6 Larry Wise, West Texas A&M
D-13 DaJuan Jones, UT Permian Basin
D-21 Lloyd Daniels, Lubbock Christian
J-3 Augustine Ene, Texas A&M-Commerce
J-10 Larry Wise, West Texas A&M (2)
J-17 Cameron Kahn, DBU
J-24 Tyrell Carroll, Angelo State
J-31 Jermane Carter, Midwestern State
Defensive
N-15 Kavon Booker, West Texas A&M
N-22 Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian
N-29 Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian (2)
D-6 Kavon Booker, West Texas A&M (2)
D-13 Clashon Gaffney, Texas A&M-Commerce
D-21 Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian (3)
J-3 Evan Anderson, UAFS
J-10 Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian (4)
J-17 Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian (5)
J-24 Will Chayer, Texas A&M-Kingsville
J-31 Carson Hughes, DBU (2)
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Zach Toussaint, West Texas A&M, drained a career-high 36 points against Midwestern State, becoming just the 14th player in program history to reach the milestone in a single game. He scored went 11-for-19 from the field, 7-for-11 from the deep and 7-for-7 from the free throw line while adding two rebounds and an assist. The Johnsburg, Ill. product also hit 6-of-12 with 14 points in the Buffs 72-65 win over DBU. For the week, Toussaint averaged 25.0 points per game and shot 54.0 percent from the field.
Tyler Caron, St. Mary's, posted a double-double in the team's win at St. Edward's with 18 points and 10 rebounds and followed it up with a dominating career-high 28 points over Western New Mexico, where he was 10-of-11 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the three-point line and the lone miss rimmed out. Caron shot 80 percent for the week, 77.8 from beyond the arc, and 77.8 from the free throw line as StMU has won four straight in league play for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
Drew Tennial, Oklahoma Christian, played 42 minutes for a shorthanded Oklahoma Christian squad, scored 21 points (just one off his career-high), grabbed nine rebounds and hit a game-winning layup with 1.4 seconds left in overtime as OC (which used only six players) edged Arkansas-Fort Smith 84-83 on Thursday. The win gave the Eagles a season sweep of the Lions for the second straight campaign. Tennial scored the Eagles’ final nine points in overtime and also had three steals.
Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian, led the Chaps in scoring for the week as Lubbock Christian earned wins over Angelo State and UT Permian Basin. He notched his eighth double-double of the season on Thursday with 14 points and a career-high matching 15 rebounds. He then led the team in scoring with 21 points on 6-10 shooting Saturday in Odessa. He averaged 17.5 points and 10.0 rebounds for the week.
Micah Fuller, UT Tyler, averaged 15.0 points a game and sunk the game-tying and the game-winning free throws in Saturday's victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville. He went for 17 and 21 in the two games on Thursday and Saturday and shot a perfect 18-for-18 from the free throw line between the three games. No free throw proved to be more important than his final make of the week as he gave UT Tyler a 63-62 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville. Fuller leads the team with 13.5 points per game for the year.
Julian Miranda, DBU, totaled 41 points and 11 assists in DBU's 2-1 outing last week. In wins over UT Tyler and Cameron, the redshirt senior averaged 3.5 assists and 15.5 points on 54% shooting. Miranda's game-high four 3-pointers lifted the Patriots to a season-best 14-30 performance from behind the arc and an 89-53 rout of Cameron. Miranda then reached double figures for the sixth consecutive game with 10 points against No. 12 West Texas A&M. The veteran guard made DBU history against the Buffs when he notched a team-high four assists to move into second place in the all-time record books (368).
Jairus Roberson, Texas A&M-Commerce, scored at least 11 points in both wins for the Lions this past weekend. He shot 8 for 15 from beyond the arc. He had 15 points in the win over Texas A&M-Kingsville and 11 points against Texas A&M International. The Lions did not trail in either game. Roberson is 17th in the country with an average of 3.3 three pointers made per game.
Jake Majors, Texas A&M-Kingsville, put together the best performance of his Javelina career on Saturday night against UT Tyler. The Corpus Christi native set a career-high with 24 points while shooting 7-of-9 from the field and 6-of-8 from beyond the arc on a night when he led all scorers. His Saturday line also included four rebounds and a steal.
Carson Hughes, DBU, led a DBU defense that earned a pair of victories and held opponents to 61.0 points per game. The fourth-year guard recorded a steal and a game-high six defensive boards in the Patriots' 75-60 win at UT Tyler. On Thursday, Hughes helped limit Cameron to its lowest point total of the season in DBU's 89-53 win at the Burg Center. The senior added two defensive rebounds, a steal, and a block for a Patriots' defense that stifled the Aggies into 32% shooting and a 3-22 effort from 3-point range. Hughes finished the week with season-highs in steals (4), and defensive rebounds (7) as DBU held No. 12 West Texas A&M to 72 points and a 23% 3-point performance.
Jesse Iweze, West Texas A&M, collected his first collegiate double-double in the Buffs 72-65 victory over DBU. The Roanoke, Texas product becomes just the third Buff this season to record a double-double after posting a career-high 16 points and 12 rebounds to go along with three blocks, assists and steals. Iweze went 7-for-9 from the floor with a pair of free throws.
Clashon Gaffney, Texas A&M-Commerce, swatted three shots while averaging nine points and three rebounds in the two wins for the Lions this past weekend. Opponents shot 36.8 percent from the field as the Lions did not trail in either game. He had 10 points, four rebounds, three blocks, and a steal against Texas A&M-Kingsville and eight points and two rebounds against Texas A&M International. He leads the country with an average of 3.2 blocks per game.
Nyk Madison, Oklahoma Christian, who ranks third in blocked shots in the LSC this season, matched his single-game career high with four as the Eagles edged Arkansas-Fort Smith 84-83 on Thursday in their lone game of the week. He wasn't credited with a block on what was arguably his biggest defensive play, on which he harassed Courtney Murrell of UAFS into a shot that caromed off the left side of the backboard with:02 left in regulation, forcing overtime.
Marcus Jones, Texas A&M-Kingsville, spent the week putting together a pair of double-digit scoring performances during a week in which he averaged 11.5 points per game. On Thursday night against A&M-Commerce, he tallied 11 points and followed that up by shooting 5-of-6 from the floor against UT Tyler for 12 points. For the week, Jones shot better than 60 percent from the field, hitting 8-of-13 overall.