LSC Preseason Poll picks Texans third behind UTPB, WTAMU

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Tarleton State is picked third in the Lone Star Conference by head coaches, sports information personnel and designated meda around the league. || Flash photo library

Special to The Flash Today
Lone Star Conference

RICHARDSON (October 25, 2017) — UT Permian Basin is the favorite in the 2017-18 Lone Star Conference men’s basketball preseason poll announced Wednesday.

The league’s preseason polls reflect the opinions of LSC head coaches and sports information directors, plus various media representatives from throughout the region.

UTPB earned the top spot with 19 first-place votes and 269 points after capturing the LSC Championship last season with a 14-4 league record.  The Falcons also won the LSC tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Division II postseason for the first time in program history.

West Texas A&M was second with 234 points and five top votes just in front of Tarleton State with 231 points and three first-place votes.  Midwestern State was fourth with 168 points and the remaining top nod.

Texas A&M-Kingsville was picked fifth with 150 points to edge Angelo State who was sixth (148).  Texas A&M-Commerce (117), Cameron (110), Eastern New Mexico (84), and Western New Mexico (29) rounded out the poll.

UTPB’s Daeshon Francis was the top choice as Preseason Player of the Year receiving 21 of the 28 votes.

Francis, a 6-4 senior guard from Indianapolis, Indiana, earned LSC Player of the Year and D2CCA South Central Region Player of the Year honors after scoring 18.2 points per game with a .559 field goal percentage last season. He scored in double-figures in 30 of 32 games with a season-high 34 points and paced the team with 48 steals and was second in rebounding (6.6 per game) and assists (3.1).

The LSC has 10 teams set for this season and the league race should be as tight as ever.  The season begins in early November with LSC teams playing a double round robin league schedule, in which each team plays a home and away contest against each of the other teams to determine the LSC champion.


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The LSC champion will be the regular season winner determined by league games, while the postseason tournament winner is designated as LSC Tournament Champion and earns the conference’s automatic qualification.  The top eight teams in the final conference standings qualify for the postseason tournament set for March 1-4, 2018, at Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas.

MEN’S BASKETBALL 1st TOTAL
1 UT Permian Basin 19 269
2 West Texas A&M 5 234
3 Tarleton State 3 231
4 Midwestern State 1 168
5 Texas A&M-Kingsville 150
6 Angelo State 148
7 Texas A&M-Commerce 117
8 Cameron 110
9 Eastern New Mexico 84
10 Western New Mexico 29

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