BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – The Tarleton Texan men's basketball team will return to action on Wednesday, March 3 at 6 p.m. against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first round of the Lone Star Conference Championship Tournament at Bruin Field House in Bartlesville, Okla.
Tarleton is 21-6 overall and finished in second place in the LSC South Division with a 9-3 record. The Texans are making their ninth straight trip to the conference tournament and will look to reach the tournament final for the first time since the 2006 season. Tarleton has played in five tournament title games, winning in 2004 (69-66 over Northeastern State).
The Texans are coming off a 90-81 loss at Angelo State on Saturday that deprived Tarleton of a share of its fifth LSC division title since the 2002 season.
Tarleton is this season led by Devon Hills with 13.4 points per game while Effran Bryant (11.8), Jeremiah Wilson (10.6) and Corin Henry (10.0) are also averaging in double figures. Wilson leads the team with 8.2 rebounds per outing while Donta Smith is second with 6.7 boards per contest. Henry leads the squad with 114 assists and 45 steals while Wilson is tops with 43 blocks.
The Texans are averaging .443 form the floor, .361 from the three-point arc and .668 from the charity stripe while allowing opponents to shoot .375 from the field, .321 from the arc an .659 from the line. Tarleton is out rebounding foes 37.5 to 32.2 and outscoring them 71.0 to 57.6.
Texas A&M-Commerce finished as the No. 3 seed of the North Division with an 8-4 record, and the Lions are 19-8 overall. TAMUC is coming off back-to-back wins over Southwestern Oklahoma (65-59) and Cameron (76-48).
The Lions are led by Ronnie Morgan with 14.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while Brian Singleton (13.4) and Brad Hambrick (11.0) are also averaging in double digits. Sammy Jackson is second with 4.5 rebounds per game.
A&M-Commerce is averaging .472 from the field, .383 from the arc and .691 from the line while opponents are shooting .414 from the floor, .326 from the arc and .675 from the stripe. The Lions are outscoring foes 76.5 to 70.3 and outrebounding them 37.4 to 34.3.
In the only game between the two teams this season, Tarleton was led by Hills with 24 points and claimed a 68-55 victory on the road in Commerce on Jan. 9. Henry (15) and Bryant (11) also had double digits while Henry led the squad with eight rebounds. Hambrick (13) and Singleton (11) led the Lions in scoring while Hambrick's seven rebounds was tops on the team.
The Texans averaged .404 from the field and hit 24-of-28 free throws (.857) in the win while shooting just .222 from the arc (6-of-27). The Lions shot .358 from the field and .650 from the line (13-of-20) while hitting just four-of-14 threes (.286). TAMUC outrebounded Tarleton 34-33.
The two teams have met 50 times since 1962, and the Lions lead the all-time series, 28-22. TAMUC won the previous two meetings before the Jan. 9 Texan victory. Tarleton is 18-15 against TAMUC under the helm of head coach Lonn Reisman. The last time the two teams played in the postseason was on March 15, 2005 when the Texans won the South Central Regional in Commerce, 75-70.
The games will be broadcast on KSTV 93.1 FM. Fans will be able to watch the live video feed via the LSC Championship Tournament website. Live stats will also be available through that site as well.
The winner of the game will play the winner of the Central Oklahoma/West Texas A&M game on Friday, March 5 at 8:30 p.m.
