Hicks' late basket lifts LCU over St. Edward's
FRISCO — Parker Hicks scored off an inbound play with less than one second left, lifting top seed Lubbock Christian University to a 58-56 victory over No. 9 seed St. Edward's in Thursday's quarterfinals of the Lone Star Conference basketball tournament.
LCU called timeout after a steal and set up the play in the frontcourt that had Hicks positioned between guards Aamer Muhammad and Aaron Gonzales in a horizontal stack at the top of the key.
When Muhammad broke toward Rowan Mackenzie for the inbound pass at the sideline, the Hilltoppers' lost coverage on Hicks, who darted for the basket, took the throw from Mackenzie and had an easy bank shot underneath.
Hicks finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Lloyd Daniels added 15 points and Muhammad 10 for LCU (26-2), which advances to a semifinal at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Comerica Center. The Chaps will play No. 12 seed Texas A&M-Kingsville (17-9), a 70-64 winner over No. 4 seed St. Mary's.
St. Edward's (17-12) was trying to upset LCU in the conference tournament for the second year in a row. The Hilltoppers tied the score at 54 on a 3-point goal by Jake Krafka with 1:43 left and again at 56 on a layup by Daniel Venzant with 1:01 to go.
Uche Dibiamaka led the Hilltoppers with 19 points. Venzant, a former Midland Christian star, finished with 15 points and seven assists. Krafka had 12 points and seven rebounds.
LCU led 28-14 on a dunk by Muhammad with seven minutes left in the first half. St. Edward's closed the gap to 34-32 by halftime as Venzant scored 10 points and Dibiamaka six in an 18-6 run.
The Chaps never trailed in the second half, but only briefly over the final 10 minutes did they led by more than six.
SPC women 68
New Mexico JC 52
WOLFFORTH — Celia Sumbane scored 20 points, Viktoria Ivanova followed with 16 and South Plains College knocked off seventh-ranked New Mexico Junior College in Friday's semifinals of the NJCAA Region V tournament at Frenship.
Matilda Soderlund added 12 points as the Lady Texans beat their conference rival for the second time in three games this season.
South Plains (19-8) advances to the championship game at 2 p.m. Saturday against Clarendon College (24-8), which upset No. 19 Midland College in the other semifinal. All four semifinalists were teams from the Western Junior College Athletic Conference who swept the four teams from the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference in the first round.
South Plains also split with Clarendon during the regular season.
Precious Cowan scored 19 points for New Mexico JC (26-4), which lost for the first time in 12 games. Sandra Magolico had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
SPC men 78, NMMI 67
WOLFFORTH — Kieves Turner poured in 29 points and South Plains College downed New Mexico Military Institute in the NJCAA Region V tournament semifinals.
Khalifa Sakho added 14 points and Malik Zachery 11 for South Plains (19-11), which will play for the tournament title at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Frenship. The Texans will match up with top seed Odessa College (27-5), which beat New Mexico Junior College 75-69 for its 19th victory in a row.
Latik Murphy led NMMI (18-13) with 17 points, followed by Isaiah Williams with 11. Chris Bready and Amari Crowder chipped in nine apiece with Crowder grabbing 10 rebounds.
NJCAA REGION V TOURNAMENT
at the Tiger Pit, Wolfforth
Note: Seeds, records in parentheses. An "N" designates teams from the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference. A "W" designates teams from the Western Junior College Athletic Conference.
WOMEN
Wednesday's First-Round Results
Clarendon College 86, Hill College 76
Midland College 82, Temple College 64
South Plains College 63, Grayson College 57
New Mexico Junior College 79, Weatherford College 75
MEN
Thursday's First-Round Results
New Mexico Military Institute 74, McLennan Community College 71, OT
South Plains College 81, Temple College 80, OT
New Mexico Junior College 93, Hill College 71
Odessa College 97, Collin College 71
Friday's Semifinals
WOMEN
Clarendon 80, Midland 71
South Plains 68, New Mexico Junior College 52
MEN
South Plains 78, New Mexico Military Institute 67
Odessa 75, New Mexico JC 69
Saturday's Championships
WOMEN
South Plains (W3) (19-8) vs. Clarendon (W4) (24-8), 2 p.m.
MEN
Odessa (W1) (27-5) vs. South Plains (W2) (19-11), 4:30 p.m.
———
LONE STAR CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
Note: Seeds, records in parentheses.
MEN
Tuesday's First-Round Results
at campus sites
Texas A&M-Kingsville 49, Texas A&M-Commerce 46
Midwestern State 66, UT Tyler 62
Angelo State 78, UT Permian Basin 77, OT
St. Edward's 68, Arkansas-Fort Smith 59
at Comerica Center, Frisco
Thursday's Quarterfinals
Midwestern State 82, Dallas Baptist 66
West Texas A&M 83, Angelo State 73
Lubbock Christian University 58, St. Edward's 56
Texas A&M-Kingsville 70, St. Mary's 64
Saturday's Semifinals
West Texas A&M (2) (26-6) vs. Midwestern State (6) (16-14), noon
LCU (1) (26-2) vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville (12) (17-9), 2:30 p.m.
WOMEN
Tuesday's First-Round Results
at campus sites
Lubbock Christian University 84, Arkansas-Fort Smith 67
Cameron 88, Eastern New Mexico 85
UT Tyler 55, Midwestern State 38
Texas A&M International 66, Texas A&M-Kingsville 64, OT
Friday's Quarterfinals
Texas A&M-Commerce 80, Cameron 65
UT Tyler 59, Texas Woman's 46
West Texas A&M 75, Texas A&M International 56
Lubbock Christian University 60, Angelo State 51
Saturday's Semifinals
West Texas A&M (1) (21-10) vs. LCU (5) (26-5), 6 p.m.
Texas A&M-Commerce (3) (25-3) vs. UT Tyler (7) (19-8), 8:30 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Parker Hicks' late basket lifts LCU over St. Edward's in SAC tournament
