Abilene Christian's Lone Star Conference Starting 5 Fan Poll ... VOTE TODAY!
ABILENE – The Abilene Christian men's basketball team takes to its home court at Moody Coliseum for the first time in close to a month this week when it plays host to Midwestern State and Cameron. Both games will be broadcast locally on KSLI 1080-AM Thursday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
ACU's last home game was a 90-88 defeat against Texas A&M-Commerce on Dec. 4 – the second of a three-game conference losing streak the Wildcats are still looking to snap. Right before Winter Break, however, ACU went 1-1 in Las Vegas, first losing by four to Rollins College before defeating Florida Tech, 82-72.
The Wildcats (5-5, 1-3 LSC) shot a combined 47.2 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from 3-point range (.421) during their Western road trip. Senior guard
Eric Lawton led all ACU players with 27.0 points per game, scoring 25 vs. Rollins before netting a career-high 29 in the win against Florida Tech. Lawton finished with a .731 (19-26) field-goal percentage, dished out nine assists and made 8 of 12 3-pointers.
Lawton enters the week with the Lone Star Conference's top scoring average of 18.7 points per game. He also ranks among the league's top 10 in field-goal percentage (.507), 3-point field goal percentage (.491), assists (3.7), assist-turnover ratio (1.4) and 3-point field goals made (2.7).
“I thought we got better on this trip,” said head coach
Joe Golding during his postgame interview. “We had a tough couple of games going in, but I liked the resiliency and toughness of this team to get a win when we most needed it. I think we played well vs. Rollins and controlled the game from tip to finish vs. Florida Tech.”
Senior center
Steven Werner also had a solid weekend in Vegas, pacing the defense with four blocks, nine rebounds and 15.5 points per game. Werner is sixth in the league in rebounding with 6.8 per game and is eighth in blocked shots (1.1).
Midwestern State (8-3, 4-0 LSC) last played on New Year's Eve and scored a convincing 82-53 victory at Eastern New Mexico to remain atop the conference standings. Mustang forward Corbin Thomas led his team with a 9-for-11 performance from the field to finish with a game-high 20 points while pulling down eight rebounds, while Kevin Grayer contributed 17 points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals.
As a team, Midwestern State ranks second in the conference in scoring (75.1) behind only Commerce (80.2) and is tops with a +8.7 rebounding margin. Thomas is the LSC's No. 8 leading scorer with 14.0 points per game and ranks third with 7.7 boards. He is also one of the league's most accurate shooters with a .596 field goal percentage.
The Wildcats will also need to keep a close eye on junior Monzaigo Williams, who is first in the LSC with 5.9 assists per game and a 2.2 assist/turnover ratio.
Cameron (5-5, 1-3 LSC) last competed on Dec. 28 in an exhibition at Texas-El Paso, which it lost 77-59, but prior to that was part of the Rollins Las Vegas Desert Classic field with ACU and split its series vs. the Tars (L, 88-76) and Florida Tech (W, 78-70). The Aggies will again play Wednesday night at home vs. Angelo State before traveling south to the Big Country.
Cameron ranks seventh in the conference in scoring with 67.7 points per game and is led offensively by Craig Foster's 15.4 points and 5.1 assists. Foster also is deadly from the free-throw line where he's made 28 of 34 attempts (.824).
