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WTAMU Seniors Come Up Big As Buffs Hang On To Upset LSC South Leader TAMU-Kingsville, 79-76

WTAMU's Three Seniors Combine For 61 Points



Senior guard Rod Prater netted a game-high 23 points in the Buffs' 79-76 upset win over LSC South leader TAMU-Kingsville Saturday night, as WTAMU's three seniors combined for 61 points on Senior Night at the WTAMU Event Center.

Feb. 21, 2004

Box Score

The West Texas A&M University men's basketball team road the coattails of its seniors on Senior Night to hang on and upset division frontrunner Texas A&M University-Kingsville in a thrilling 79-76 Lone Star Conference South division contest Saturday night in the Buffs regular-season home finale at the WTAMU Event Center.

After the Buffs opened a double-digit lead in the first half, and reached their largest lead at 18 points at halftime, the Javelinas whittled the lead to single digits and had a chance to send the game into overtime, but TAMU-K's Erik Webb's 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.

With the loss, the Javelinas relinquished their LSC South lead, falling a half game behind Eastern New Mexico. ENMU had lost the game and the division lead to TAMU-Kingsville Thursday, 89-70, but bounced back to defeat Texas A&M-Commerce, 90-75, Saturday. TAMU-K had its five-game winning streak snapped as well in Saturday's loss, and the Javelinas are now 17-9 overall, 8-3 in LSC South play.

WTAMU won its third in a row and improves to 16-9 overall and 6-4 in LSC South action, currently in third place.

The Buffs' win also snaps a four-game losing streak to the Javelinas, who blew out WTAMU, 86-68 on Jan. 22 at Kingsville, Texas.

Senior forward Jason Campbell registered his second double-double of the season with 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, including two important ones in the final minute.
Saturday night was Senior Night for the Buffs, and all three made a dramatic impact on the game. Four WTAMU starters posted double figures, led by senior guard Rod Prater's game-high 23 points, 14 in the second half. Senior guard Eduardo Caviglia added 20 points, followed by senior forward Jason Campbell's 18 points and junior guard Carl Lamb's 10. Campbell also pulled down game-high 13 rebounds to register his second double-double of the season.

TAMU-K also had four players in double-digits, led by Robert Hamilton with 19 points, while Jamie Barnett added 18 and Webb added 14 points off the bench.

Will Brown, who lit up Eastern New Mexico for 46 points, including 27 points in the first half, was held scoreless for the first half Saturday and scored his first points at the 13:26 mark and finished with 10 points.

Hamilton pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, while Remi Yusuf dished out a game-high 10 assists.

Ahead 24-19 with 6:35 remaining in the first half, WTAMU erupted for a 19-6 run to close out the half, taking a 43-25 lead into intermission.

The Buffs' lead remained double-digits for the first portion of the second half, before the Javelinas started to chip away at the deficit, cutting to nine with 8:01 to play on a jumper by Hamilton.

Senior guard Eduardo Caviglia netted 20 points Saturday, including a pair of free throws with nine seconds left to secure WTAMU's upset win over LSC South leader TAMU-Kingsville.
With 1:08 remaining Richard Gonzalez had a steal and was fouled as he made the layup, but he missed the ensuing free throw to leave TAMU-K down, 72-70.

Prater hit a pair of free throw with 1:03 remaining to put the Buffs up by four.

A 3-pointer by Gonzalez was off the mark and Campbell corralled the rebound and was fouled. Campbell hit both free throws to give WTAMU some breathing room at 76-70 with 42 seconds to play.

However, that breathing room vanished as Webb hit a trey with 32 seconds remaining to pull TAMU-K within 76-73.

Prater hit the second of free throws with 26.5 seconds on the clock to make it a 77-73 score.

Webb responded again, drilling another 3-pointer with 15.7 ticks left.

WTAMU was called for a violation on the inbounds pass, turning the ball over to TAMU-K.

However, Webb missed a layup with 12 seconds and Caviglia snared the rebound and was fouled.

Caviglia hit both free throw to give the Buffs a 79-76 lead with 9.0 seconds on the clock.

The Javelinas tried to get the ball off sooner, but Webb's launch sailed through the air and bounced off the rim as the buzzer rang.

The Buffs hit the road for the final two games of the regular season, traveling to Abilene, Texas, to take on Abilene Christian University on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. and wrapping up at San Angelo, Texas on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. against Angelo State University.

ACU and ASU play each other Monday at San Angelo, a game which affects WTAMU's LSC Tournament chances, as an ACU loss clinches a spot for the Buffs.

-WT-