Feb. 19, 2005

Box Score

COMMERCE, Texas --- The West Texas A&M University Buff basketball team lost to No. 11 Texas A&M University-Commerce, 75-59, Saturday afternoon in a Lone Star Conference South Division match-up at TAMU-C's Field House. It was WTAMU's first loss at Commerce since 1998, snapping a six-game winning streak for the Buffs at TAMU-C.

With the loss, WTAMU falls to 12-13 overall and 6-4 in LSC South action, falling out of a three-way tie for second-place in the division.

TAMU-C, ranked No. 11 in the NABC Top 25 Poll and No. 1 in the NCAA-II South Central Regional rankings, moves to 21-4 overall and 8-2 in the LSC South, finishing regular season undefeated at home with a 13-0 home mark.

The Lions also swept the Buffs this season, after a 67-50 TAMU-C at Canyon on Jan. 22, as the Lions have now split the last six meetings with the Buffs, but WTAMU still holds a 37-22 all-time series lead.

Just like in the loss at Canyon, WTAMU shot less than 40.0 percent, as the Buffs were 37.0 percent (20-of-54) from the field Saturday, including a paltry 3-of-16 (18.8 percent) from 3-point land.

TAMU-C shot 44.8 percent (26-of-58) from the field, including 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from behind the 3-point arc.

The Lions outrebounded the Buffs, 42-34, and had a 16-4 advantage on second-chance points.

Senior guard Carl Lamb led three Buffs in double-digits, with 16 points, including 12 in the first half. Junior guard Ronnie Holmes, Thursday's hero with the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer, netted 13 points senior forward Jamil Terrell posted 12 points, and was one rebound shy of a double-double by pulling down nine rebounds.

TAMU-C had four starters post double-digits, led by Jermart Miller with 17 points, followed by Allen Walker with 15 points. Chris Fantroy tallied 12 points and Matthew Rager posted 10.

The Buffs scored the first points of the game on a bucket from Lamb, but never led again in the half, as the Lions stormed to an 18-11 lead at 12:37 after a 3-pointer from Allen Walker.

WTAMU came back to tie the score at 20-all after a pair of free throws from freshman guard Kyle Shields, who was fouled on a fast break attempt after a diving steal by senior forward Richard Higginbotham, who tapped the ball to Shields as he was falling to the floor.

With TAMU-C leading 24-23, the Lions then went on a 13-0 run to take a 37-23 lead with 3:49 to play in the half. Terrell snapped the streak with a pair of free throws at 2:29, WTAMU's first points in just under six minutes.

After the Lions' Kevin Walker hit a 3-pointer at 1:43 to give TAMU-C a 41-25 lead, WTAMU closed out the half with a 6-0 run, capped by a steal and layup from Lamb with 20 seconds left, the first of two defensive stops by the Buffs, who went into halftime trailing, 41-31.

After a trey from TAMU-C's Fantroy to open the second half, WTAMU closed to 44-40 with a 9-0 spurt, capping a 15-3 run overlapping the end of the first half and start of second stanza. Terrell had six points in the streak, including a thunderous dunk.

The Lions regained control with nine unanswered points to open a 53-40 lead and the Buffs never got within nine points for the rest of the game.

TAMU-C took its biggest lead at 75-58 with 53.5 seconds left.

On Monday, Feb. 21, the Buffs will travel across the state line to tangle with border-rival Eastern New Mexico University in an 8 p.m. Central Time (7 p.m. Mountain Time) contest.

The Lady Buffs and Buffs return home to host Texas A&M University-Kingsville on Thursday, Feb. 24. The WTAMU women conclude regular season action by hosting Texas Woman's University on Saturday, Feb. 26. The world renowned slam dunk acrobatic group "The Extreme Team" will be performing at halftime.

Contact the WTAMU Athletics Ticket Office at 806-651-4424 for ticket information.

Fans can tune into WTAMU Basketball action on the Buffalo Sports Network on KGNC 710 AM or streamed on the internet at www.gobuffsgo.com.