LSUS heading to Kansas City

Chad McDowell has worked wonders down on E. Kings Highway with LSUS.

In the span of five years, he's turned the Pilots into one of the premier NAIA programs in the nation. The Pilots won their third conference tournament title on Monday, getting a solid overall defensive effort to do it.

LSUS is heading back to Kansas City, the site of the NAIA's national tournament, for the fourth time in five seasons.

This year's club may have the best shot of any of McDowell's previous teams of a long run through the tournament for one reason - defense.

The Pilots have concentrated their efforts on shoring up its defense after a couple of games where they allowed 97 and 100 points to Southern-New Orleans and Spring Hill, respectively. Since those games defense has been the Pilots' forte. Monday's win illustrated the point.

The Pilots will need to play even better defense in Kansas City. That's been their one Achilles Heel in seasons' past. LSUS has the talent to win one or two games, but for it to take the next step, the defense will have to come through.