Langston wins conference title
SOONERS STAY AT NO. 6
LANGSTON — When Stan Holt took over as head coach of the Langston University basketball program before the 2014-15 season, he had three goals in mind.
Win a regular-season Red River Conference championship.
Win a Red River Conference tournament championship.
Win the program’s first-ever NAIA Tournament game.
The Lions accomplished the second of those three goals with a 74-72 overtime win against top-ranked LSU-Alexandria in the Red River championship game Saturday. The victory guaranteed Langston a spot in the NAIA Tournament later this month and an chance to achieve goal No. 3.
Langston forward Terrell Jones provided the decisive basket against LSU-Alexandria, when he collected an airball and flipped it in to put the Lions ahead by two with 2.5 seconds remaining. Lions guard Mike Harris clinched the game by stealing the ensuing LSU-Alexandria inbounds pass.
“He (Harris) did something really smart when he stole it,” Holt said. “He shot the ball up high and didn’t give them a chance to foul.”
The win helped No. 13-ranked Langston avenge a narrow Feb. 5 loss to LSU-Alexandria that allowed the Generals to get the inside track on the Lions for the Red River Conference regular season title.
“As it turned out, that game that we lost in the regular season at their place really sealed the deal for us,” Holt said. “There was no way for us to come back from that because they never lost again.”
On Saturday, Langston (25-6, 15-3 Red River) finally halted LSU-Alexandria’s winning streak at 18 games.
Terrell Jones, who scored the game winner, led the Lions with 22 points and five rebounds. Guard Curtis Jones added 16 points and Marquis Walters 12.
Now, Langston will turn its attention toward the NAIA Tournament. Seeds and matchups for the 32-team, single-elimination tournament will be announced at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Langston, which has made the NAIA Tournament three times in program history, is still searching for its first win.
“The conference championship is a great accomplishment,” Holt said. “But now this team’s focus has to be on that very, very first game. How do we get out of that first round?”