Six days after losing sole possession of the LSC Championship and the No. 1 regional ranking with a tough loss to Texas A&M University-Commerce, Tarleton State avenged that loss Friday night with an 84-72 win over the Lions in the semifinal round of the LSC Championship.
Tarleton (26-2) becomes the first team in LSC history to make the conference tournament final five straight years. The defending-champion Texans used a 16-6 run to open the second half and outscored the Lions 47-32 in the second half to pull away.
For the third straight year, and fourth time in five seasons, the Texans will face Midwestern State in the final round. Tarleton and MSU (22-6) split the season-series with each team winning on the road. Saturday’s game will tip off around 5:30 p.m. and will be televised live by CSN Houston's secondary channel, CSN Plus.
The Lions drop to 19-9 and will have to wait and see if they can make next week’s regional tournament. A&M-Commerce started the week ranked seventh in the region.
After getting beat 22-10 on the boards at the half, Tarleton hit the glass in the second half and out-rebounded Commerce 17-15.
Just as important, the Texans improved from the field, hitting 54.5 percent of their shots. De’Andre Upchurch scored 25 points while Chuck Guy just missed a double-double with 19 points and nine assists. Guy made 7 of 9 free-throw attempts, giving him 156 this season, a new Texan record surpassing Roderick Brown’s 154 in 1990. Guy also moved to fifth in school history with 167 assists.
Tashawn Mabry, plagued by foul trouble all night, scored 11 points in just 15 minutes.
The Lions had three players in double figures, led by LaDon Carnegie and Kameron Price each scored 14 points. Tyrie Wooten had 12 points. Carnegie, an All-LSC first-team pick, did have seven of the Lions’ 14 turnovers.
Notes
- A&M-Commerce had a five-game winning streak snapped in Friday's LSC Postseason Tournament semifinal round falling to Tarleton State, 84-72.
- The Lions have played in 57 games in 35 LSC postseason appearances -- both are the most in league history.
- A&M-Commerce advanced out of the quarterfinal round for the first time since reaching the 2008 title game in Bartlesville, Okla. -- a 72-70 loss to Central Oklahoma.
- Senior guard LaDon Carnegie scored in double figures for the 20th time this season. The first-team All-LSC performer scored 14 points connected on a pair of 3-pointers before fouling out in 27 minutes.
- Senior guard Kameron Price scored in double figures in each of A&M-Commerce's LSC postseason games. He followed Thursday's night's 13-point effort by scoring 14 more against Tarleton State Friday night.
- Senior guard Tyrie Wooten dropped in 12 points Friday against Tarleton State after netting 16 points Thursday against Eastern New Mexico.