March 5, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - Central Oklahoma's Sam Belt brought home Player of the Year honors in the North Division and West Texas A&M's Robert Lee landed the same acclaim in the South Division to highlight the Lone Star Conference men's basketball postseason awards announced Tuesday by league officials.

In addition to Lee, the Buffs were represented on the team by Pierre Barlow, Tyler Cooper Andre Hill and Chris Hinz, who were named honorable mention.

The awards announcement came Tuesday night at a pre-tournament banquet in Bartlesville, Okla., where the LSC Basketball Championship tournament is set to begin on Wednesday. Quarterfinal games will be played all day Wednesday, with semifinal games slated for Friday evening and the championship game on Saturday night.

Belt and Lee were among 10 players to garner first team All-LSC acclaim, with five in both the North and South divisions. Another 11 players were appointed to the second team, plus 18 more landed honorable mention acclaim.

Joining Belt on the All-LSC North Division first team were Scooby Johnson of Texas A&M-Commerce, East Central's Terrell Carpenter, Southwestern Oklahoma's Nate Perry, and Steve Neal from Northeastern State.

Lee shared first team All-LSC South Division honors with Corwin Ragland and Dejan Sencanski of Abilene Christian, Tarleton State's Avery Patterson, and Marcus Hubbard from Angelo State.

Senior Robert Lee made a quick transition into the WT system after joining the team this summer and was rewarded by being named LSC South Player of the Year (Photo by Rik Anderson)

Belt and Lee claimed Player of the Year honors by registering the most votes in the balloting of the league's head coaches. Belt ranks among the league's top 10 in both scoring (18.5 points per game) and rebounding (7.4 rebounds per game), while Lee averaged 17.5 points per game and scored 25-plus points in six of 12 South Division games.

Other top awards were distributed for defensive player, newcomer, freshman and coach of the year.

In the North Division, Abdullah Lawal of Southwestern Oklahoma was named Defensive Player of the Year, while Freshman of the Year honors were shared by Southeastern Oklahoma's Ken Reed and Central Oklahoma's Michael Sosanya. Texas A&M-Commerce's Scooby Johnson earned the nod as Newcomer of the Year, while SWOSU's Todd Thurman and UCO's Terry Evans split LSC North Coach of the Year acclaim.

For the South Division, Wendell Mulkey of Texas A&M-Kingsville took Defensive Player of the Year honors, while Wale Ogunoye of Tarleton State was named Freshman of the Year. Lee landed Newcomer of the Year recognition in addition to his Player of the Year award, while his coach Rick Cooper added to WTAMU's trophy case with LSC South Coach of the Year recognition. The accoliade was the sixth overall and third consecutive for Cooper. The Coach of the Year accolade was the sixth overall and third consecutive for Cooper.

Overall, a total of 41 student-athletes were recognized by the all-conference program. The awards are voted upon by the league coaches.