Athletic Report
February 24, 2002

MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS ANNOUNCED BY LONE STAR CONFERENCE
RICHARDSON, TX – The Lone Star Conference has announced first round pairings for the 2001-02 LSC Men’s Basketball Tournament. Eastern New Mexico University, making its first LSC Tournament appearance since 1996-97, will play a quarterfinal game at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Okla., on Tuesday, Feb. 26. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. (MST).

The Greyhounds enter the LSC Tournament with a 15-11 overall and a 6-6 mark in the LSC South. Eastern has won 3 of 4 games while playing with just seven players since Feb. 11, when three players quit the team. It is Eastern’s first winning season since the 1996-97 team achieved an 18-9 overall record. Eastern won its final three LSC South games on the road at West Texas A&M (Feb. 18), Angelo State (Feb. 21) and Abilene Christian (Feb. 23) to qualify for the tournament.

Cedric Palmer (6’6”, 200 lbs., Houston, TX/McLennan C.C./Yates H.S.) tipped in a missed free throw with 5.1 seconds remaining against ACU to clinch the LSC Tournament berth by giving ENMU a 71-70 win over the Wildcats. ENMU, Angelo State and West Texas A&M finished in a three-way tie for third place in the LSC South with identical 6-6 records.

The Greyhounds and Angelo State each swept two games from WTAMU during the regular season, and qualified for the final two LSC Tournament berths under conference tie-breaking procedures. ASU and Eastern split a pair of head-to-head meetings, as each team won on the other team’s court. As a result, the tie-breaking procedure advanced to head-to-head play against LSC South teams in descending order of conference finish.

Both teams were swept by LSC South champion Tarleton State and split with Texas A&M-Kingsville, which took second place. Both teams swept WTAMU, so the tie was broken by ASU’s 1-1 record against Texas A&M-Commerce, which finished in sixth place. ENMU was 0-2 against TAMUC. As the #4 team from the LSC South, Eastern will open the tournament against the LSC North champion.

Northeastern State, 25-1 overall and ranked #2 in NCAA Division II, won the LSC North with an 11-1 record. NSU defeated ENMU in Tahlequah, Okla., 70-51, on Jan. 5. Other first round LSC Tournament pairings on Tuesday, Feb. 26 match East Central (#3N) at TAMU-Kingsville (#2S), Midwestern State (#4N) at Tarleton State (#1S), and Angelo State (#3S) at Southwestern Oklahoma (#2N). All games are set for 6:00 p.m. (MST), except the Midwestern/Tarleton game, which will begin at 7:00 p.m. (MST).

The LSC semifinals and championship match will played at the home court of the highest remaining North Division seed following first round action. If all four South Division teams win in the quarterfinals, the remaining two rounds of the tournament will be hosed by Tarleton State. Semifinal games are scheduled for Friday, Mar. 1, with the title game set for Saturday, Mar. 2. West Texas A&M won the 2000-01 LSC Tournament by defeating Angelo State, 75-73 in overtime in the championship game.