ABILENE, Texas – Hardin-Simmons' men's basketball team will head to Houston for the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament, beginning with a 5:05 p.m. game against California Lutheran on Friday at St. Thomas University,
 
The Cowboys won the American Southwest Conference title last weekend and go into the tournament with a record of 18-9. California Lutheran is 22-5 on the year and the Regals earned an at-large berth into the tournament.
 
Tickets for the event are $15 for adults and $10 for students. Fans can watch the game at https://www.ncaa.com/champs-pass/?B=2243570 .
 
   
 
Hardin-Simmons (18-9, Pool A, American Southwest Conference)
The Cowboys are making their third trip to the NCAA Tournament after winning the American Southwest Conference title last weekend in Marshall. HSU is 3-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and making its first appearance since a Sweet 16 trip in 2017. HSU has won 14 of its last 15 games and come into the tournament one of the hottest teams in the nation. Austin Brewer leads the Cowboys with 15.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Chris Bryant averaged 14.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest and Will Bartoszek averages 11 points per contest. HSU averages 81.8 points per game and gives up 76.5 per outing.
 
Cal Lutheran (22-5, Pool C selection)
Cal Lutheran comes into the tournament with a 22-5 record. The Regals are making their seventh appearance in the D3 Tournament and their third straight. They are 2-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. CLU lost a 72-71 game to Claremont Mudd Scripps in the SCIAC Championship game. HSU and Cal Lutheran have never met in men's basketball. Devion Lewis leads the Regals with 22.6 points per game and he has made 84 3-pointers. Tommy Griffitts averages 10.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per outing and Nick Attanasio scores 10 points per game. CLU averages 82.6 points per game and allows 72.2 per contest.
 
St. Thomas (Texas) (25-2, Pool A, Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference)
St. Thomas won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship in overtime against Trinty, 58-53. The Celts are making their third straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and are 0-2 all-time. St. Thomas comes into the tournament having won 20 of their last 21 games. The Celts beat Hardin-Simmons 62-55 in Abilene on Nov. 15. UST owns a 2-1 all-time advantage in the series with HSU, with all three games coming in the last three seasons. Angel Johnson leads the team with 13.6 points per game and has a team-best 117 assists, Andrew Adebo scores 13 points per contest and Marion Williams averages 10.8 per game. The Celts average 75.2 points and allow just 62.6 per outing.
 
Lewis and Clark (Ore.) (15-12, Pool A, Northwest Conference)
Lewis and Clark won the Northwest Conference as the No. 4 seed to earn its way into the NCAA Tournament, beating Whitman 70-57. The Pioneers are 15-12 on the season. Lewis and Clark is making its third appearance in the NCAA Tournament and has a 5-3 all-time record. HSU and Lewis and Clark have never met. The Pioneers have three players averaging in double figures. Sam Henderson and Mikley Medlock lead the way at 11.3 points per game. Isaac Ticeson averages 10.6 per contest. The Pioneers average 72.4 points per game and allow just 66 points per contest. 
 
About The Cowboys
The Cowboys have an all-time record of  1358-1272-2 in 114 seasons of basketball. HSU has won league championships in five different leagues - the Texas Conference (Division I), the Border Conference (Division I), the United Athletic Conference (Division I), the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (NAIA) and the American Southwest Conference. Hardin-Simmons is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017. HSU started the season 3-8 but turned it on after Christmas and has played like the team the Cowboys expected at the start of the year. Returning All-American Will Bartoszek and senior transfer Cooper Peterson, who were both expected to be among the top scorers, had foot and ankle injuries, respectively and both missed the first six games of the year. The team had to take on a different identity and different players had to step up. Freshman Matthew Alexander and sophomore Silas Davis were inserted into the starting lineup after a loss to Redlands in the first game of the D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas. Since that point, HSU has rolled off 14 wins in the last 15 games and became just the fourth team in American Southwest Conference history to go through the league undefeated. Alexander was injured in the opening minutes of the ASC semifinal and is out for the season but other players stepped up in his absence. The Cowboys rely on three players that usually have advantages in the post. Austin Brewer is 6-10 and leads the way with 15.4 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game. He plays inside and outside. Chris Bryant gets most of his points in the paint and is shooting 58.2 percent from the field. He averages 14.9 points per game. Will Bartoszek is an inside-out player who likes to get to the free throw line and is shooting 78 percent at the line.  
 
Head Coach Matt Brackett
Matt Brackett is in his eighth season at his alma mater and he has had his team on the doorstep of the NCAA Tournament for several years. HSU has won the ASC regular season the last two years and this was his third trip to the ASC Championship game in his career. He has a career record of 126-75. Brackett was a three-year starter for the Cowboys and he helped lead HSU to their first ASC Tournament in school history in 2005 as a sophomore and as a senior led the Cowboys to their first ASC championship game appearance, falling to nationally-ranked Mississippi College. He is originally from Cleveland, Texas, which is not far from this weekend's tournament. He was named the ASC Coach of the Year for the second-straight season. 
 
ASC Champs
The Cowboys went undefeated in American Southwest Conference play this season. The women's champion had the right to host the ASC Championships this year so the Cowboys went on the road to play at East Texas Baptist in Marshall. HSU beat Howard Payne, 101-75, in the semifinal and beat Mary Hardin-Baylor, 73-62, in the title game. Chris Bryant was named the MVP of the tournament and Will Bartoszek and Asher Fleming were named to the all-tournament team. It was HSU's third ASC titles, joining the back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017.
 
Super Seniors
The Cowboys have a pair of fifth-year seniors on the team in Austin Brewer and Will Bartoszek and they lead the way for the Cowboys on and off the floor. Both have graduated and are currently pursuing their MBAs.
 
When There's A Will, There's A Way
Senior forward Will Bartoszek played just seven minutes a game as a freshman and averaged 1.5 points per game. He was a hard worker who loved being in the gym and his game blossomed. He averaged 7.6 points and 5.9 rebounds as a sophomore and started 12 games. He pushed that average to 15.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game and started all 28 games of his junior year. Last season he was named the conference player of the year, a Josten's finalist and an All-American as he averaged 21.6 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per contest. He is averaging 11 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest. For his career, he has played in 116 games and started 88. He shoots 49 percent from the field for his career, 37.2 percent from 3-point range and 79.4 at the foul line. He has 1,453 points, which ranks fifth in school history. He has 69 double-figure scoring efforts in his career, has 23 games with more than 20 points, 13 with 25 or more points and two over 30. His career-high was 36 against Colorado College in 2023. He was a first-team All-ASC selection this season and was named the ASC Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year.
 
Something Brewing
Austin Brewer is in his fifth season and four of those have been at HSU. He went to Division I Sam Houston State as a freshman. He came back to HSU where his mom and dad both played and his mom Micky is in the Athletic Hall of Fame. Brewer can score all over the court and although not bulky his 6-10 frame and long arms making him a matchup nightmare. He can post smaller players and has great footwork and he can bring bigger defenders out on the floor. He has made 22 3-pointers this season and 60 in his career. He ranks 10th all-time at HSU with 1,239 points and he is fifth in rebounding with 793. He ranks fourth with 127 blocked shots in his career. He was named the ASC Scholar-Athlete with a 4.0 GPA as a math education major. He was named first-team All-ASC this season. He set his career high earlier this season with 32 points against Concordia. He has 69 double-figure scoring efforts in his career, has five games with 25 or more points, 13 20+-point games and had one career 30-point games.
 
Taking the Next Step
Sophomore Chris Bryant, who played a smaller role as a freshman, totally made over his body in the off season and expanded his game to become the top post player in the conference. He averaged 5.5 points and had four double-figure games as a freshman. He has scored in double figures 23 times this season and seven 20-point games this year. He is averaging 15.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He started the season with 28 points in the opener at Texas Lutheran. He has scored 20 or more points in each of the last three games and was named the MVP of the ASC Tournament. He was named first-team All-ASC. He ranks 24th nationally in field goal percentage at 58.2 percent and ranks 24th nationally with 59 blocked shots.
 
Season Changer
The Cowboys started the season 3-8 and were struggling when sophomore Silas Davis was inserted as the starter at point guard and the Cowboys have won 14 of the last 15 games. He has averaged 9.1 points per game and has 54 assists and just 33 turnovers since joining the starting five. He also is shooting a team-best 42.9 percent from 3-point range in that span. Davis is another sophomore who has waited for his chance and then taken full advantage when it came. He only played in 15 games as a freshman and averaged 0.6 points per game, but another worker that continued to develop came into the season with a more expanded role. He was named third-team All-ASC. 
 
"Trey"vion
Junior guard Trevion has excelled in his role and another player that has continued to improve to get a bigger role on the team. He averaged 2.4 points over his first two years and was mainly used for defense off the bench. This year he started the year as a starter and has rejoined the starting lineup after Matthew Alexander's injury. He has become a reliable 3-point shooter and is one of the best perimeter defenders. He takes pride in guarding the team's top-scoring guards. He has five double-figure scoring efforts this season.  
 
Asher All-Around
Sophomore Asher Fleming has been in the rotation each of his first two seasons. When Austin Brewer decided to use his fifth year, Fleming's role again became that as a super sub. He can play several positions and gives the Cowboys a different look. He is strong around the basket, has two games with four 3-pointers and he has been a big rebounder as well. He is also playing his best ball of the season after being named to the All-ASC Tournament team when he had nine points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in the semifinals and followed that up with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the final. He also tied his career-high in the last game of the regular season with 16 points at UT Dallas. He averages 6.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest.    
 
Cooooooooooop
Senior transfer Cooper Peterson is instant offense of the bench. He has great range out to 30 feet and is never afraid to let it fly. He has made at least one 3-pointer in the last 14 games he has played and leads the team with 35 3-pointers on the year. He has taken 117 shots, and 101 have been 3-pointers. He was named honorable mention all-ASC.
 
Hey Mr. D.J.
Transfer guard D.J. Jones has established his role as the backup point guard and brings great intensity and vocal leadership. He is a spot-up 3-point shooter and can get streaky. He had eight points in a decisive 10-0 run in the ASC Championship game. He also is a good perimeter defender.
 
Jamming Jamar
Jamar Ingram is another transfer that has added some depth in the post. He has great footwork and is shooting 55.3 percent from the field. He also gives the Cowboys more muscle on the inside.
 
 
--- www.hsuathletics.com ---
 
 
 

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