LCSC basketball teams learn of NAIA
tournament opponents

 3-7-07 

The Lewis-Clark State College men’s basketball teams will both open NAIA national tournament play next Thursday against Northwestern Oklahoma State as the pairings for the 32-team tournament to be played at Kansas City, Mo., were announced Wednesday. 

The men’s tournament ranks the 32 teams in order and the Warriors are the No. 14 seed at 26-6, and will take on No. 19 seed Northwestern Oklahoma, 20-11, at 6 p.m., PDT. LCSC was ranked No. 16 in the final NAIA poll, while the Rangers were No. 24. 

The winner of the Northwestern Oklahoma-LCSC contest will face the winner of No. 3 seed Georgetown (Kent.) and Xavier (La.) at 6 p.m. on Friday. The quarterfinals are March 17, while the semifinals are March 19, and the championship game is March 20. 

LCSC does have one common opponent with the Rangers, and it’s the No. 2 team in the country, Oklahoma City University. The Warriors lost to Oklahoma City 79-51 in a tournament at Lewiston in November, and OCU beat the Rangers 81-50 in early January. However, in their second meeting, as well as in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament, the Rangers defeated OCU 69-60 and 69-62 for OCU’s only two losses this season. 

The Rangers appear to be peaking at the right time as they have won seven of their last nine games. They finished fourth in the conference at 10-8, including just 2-7 on the road. 

Northwestern Oklahoma is average 68.8 points per game and is allowing 64.1. The Rangers are shooting 44.2 percent from the field and 34.1 percent from the 3-point line. 

Like the Warriors, the Rangers use several players in games. Tramain Davis, a 6-5 senior forward, leads the team in scoring and rebounding at 12.6 points and 6.0 boards per game. Gary Nunez, a 6-7 senior center, is at 10.6 points, followed by 5-10 freshman guard Brandon Brown at 10.3 points, and Shane Hansen, a 6-4 junior guard, at 10.0 points. 

The Warriors men are making their sixth national appearance, and third in the last six years. The 26 wins are the second most in a season, trailing only 31 set by the 2003-04 teams. 

LCSC has made its mark defensively this year. The team is second in the NAIA in fewest points allowed per game at 60.3, and is fourth in 3-point field goal percentage at 30.6. LCSC is also outscoring opponents by an average of 17.6 points per game, which ranks third in the country.