While the first year in Bartlesville was deemed a huge success, the conference tournament should be even better the second time around.

      The Lone Star Conference Basketball Championship returns to Bartlesville next week and the deadline to purchase advanced tickets to the five-day event is vastly approaching.

      The last day to purchase advanced tickets is Wednesday, Feb. 25. Currently, nine teams have clinched a spot in the tournament, with seven spots still available. On the men's side, Central Oklahoma, Midwestern State and Angelo State have clinched a spot, although MSU and ASU are still battling for the No. 1 seed in the South and Wednesday's showdown between the two in San Angelo Wednesday night should decide the top seed. Texas A&M-Kingsville, Southwestern Oklahoma State and Texas A&M-Commerce all need one more win to secure a trip to Bartlesville.

      On the women's side, six teams - three from each division - have punched their tickets to the tournament. UCO, Southeastern Oklahoma and Texas A&M-Commerce are in from the North, while West Texas A&M, Abilene Christian and Angelo State are in from the South.

      A year ago, No. 1 seeds cut down the nets in both tournaments. UCO won the men's bracket as the top seed, as did the West Texas women's team.

      Of the 14 games played last year - seven men's and seven women's contests - 10 were decided by 10 points or less.

      The LSC is expecting more exciting basketball this year, and the city of Bartlesville is counting on that well.

      "The second time around ought to be better. We got through a learning curve last year," said Bob Pomeroy, a member of the Bartlesville Sports Commission and former Phillips Petroleum sports marketing executive. "While we were really pleased how things went, we know there are things we can do a little better this time around.

      One significant change to the format this year will be the reversal of schedules between the men's and women's brackets. This year, the women will start on Wednesday, March 4 with four quarterfinal games. Semifinal action will resume the following Friday with the championship game played Saturday night.

      The men's side will begin Thursday with four games, followed by two semifinals on Saturday afternoon and then the championship game on Sunday afternoon.

      All 14 teams are expected to arrive in Bartlesville on Tuesday, March 3 for the awards banquet to announce the All-Conference teams, along with the individual awards such as Player of the Year and Coach of the Year from both divisions.

      While the tournament was a huge success from start to finish a year ago, Pomeroy said the Bartlesville staff is primed and ready to make an even better event in 2009.

       "Our committee heads have a year under their belt this year. So we've just got a better feel for how things are supposed to be done," Pomeroy said. "Overall, I think we've got a better timeline on when things need to be done. We've really been working on this for about three or four months now."

      And like he did last year, Pomeroy said the city of Bartlesville has had plenty of support for this year's tournament.

      "We had a lot of people that helped out and contributed last year, but it's been even better this year," he said. "Everywhere I go in town, people ask me about the tournament. We've had even more support from the community. I can tell we're going to have a lot of people at the games again this year. So all in all, we're really looking forward to this year's tournament."

- Courtesy of Nick Eatman