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Jan. 21, 2009

Box Score

Canyon, Texas – West Texas A&M defeated Midwestern State, 67-61, snapping the Mustangs’ 10-game winning streak, Wednesday night at the First United Bank Center to take sole possession of first place in the LSC South Division.

The win improves WTAMU to 12-5 overall, 2-0 in LSC South play, while Midwestern State Falls 13-5, 2-1 LSC South.

With Midwestern riding that 10-game winning streak and WT coming off a division win over Abilene Christian, the game was played with an intensity deserving of one that would decide the LSC South lead. And thought the game was close, WT would never trail in the contest.

Buff guard Nick Burns ignited WT in the first half, netting 13 of his 19 total points during the first stanza, as the Buffs took a 35-30 lead into the locker room. MSU’s Nolan Richardson, Jr., did his best to match, netting 12 first-half points.

“Nick set the tone for us, offensively,” said WT head coach Rick Cooper. “He hit some big shots for us in the first half, then he made some big plays for us late in the game.”

Burns opened the second half with a three-pointer from the corner, his third of the contest to that point. The Buffs then began to stretch the lead.

Up, 43-34, with 13:51 to play, WT guard Clint McFall drilled a three-pointer. Moments later, McFall found forward Justin Johnson on a backdoor cut. Johnson hit the lay-up and the WT lead was up to 48-37.

Midwestern didn’t roll over. Richardson, Jr., completed a three-point play at the 9:10 mark to pull the Mustangs to within four points, 52-48. Marcus Anderson’s layup narrowed the gap to two points, 52-50 with 8:45 to play. The Mustang run was momentarily stalled as the WT defense forced four consecutive empty MSU possessions. The Buffs were unable to score on their offensive end on the first three, however, Fabrice Tafo converted a feed from Niko Styliano to put the Buffs up 54-50, with 5:35 remaining.

Again Midwestern was thwarted on their offensive end and WT took advantage. Following a long Shields miss, McFall tipped in an offensive rebound and the Buffs found themselves up, 56-50 with just under five minutes to play. After a pair of Richardson free throws, Stylianou rebounded a McFall miss and hit the layup, maintaining the WT lead at six points, 58-52.

After Midwestern answered, McFall hit a jumper from the right baseline to make the score 60-54 with 2:47 remaining. The Mustangs’ Trajinski Grigsby canned a three from the right wing to narrow the gap to 60-57 at the 2:16 mark.

MSU’s Charlie Logan hit both ends of a one-and-one opportunity and the WT lead was cut to just one point with 1:34 left to be played in regulation. McFall answered, nailing a three from deep in the corner to lift the WT lead to 63-59 with one minute to play.  The Buff defense then stepped up, forcing a turnover underneath the Mustang basket.

MSU then fouled Burns, who hit the front end of a bonus free throw situation, leaving the Buffs ahead, 64-59.

With 38 seconds remaining, MSU’s Michael Godwin hit two free throws to cut the gap to three points, 64-61. MSU’s Richardson fouled Burns, who hit both ends of his free throw opportunity. The Buffs then forced a Mustang turnover, with Justin Johnson coming up with the loose ball. Johnson missed the first shot, but made the second to give the Buffs a 67-61 victory.

“We beat a very good team tonight,” said coach Rick Cooper. “We never led by more than a few possessions, so it didn’t seem like we led the whole way. We felt like we needed the game to be tight for us to have a chance to win.

“We were outrebounded, but we managed to make some stops, defensively,” Cooper continued. “And we got some offensive rebounds. Stylianou and McFall each got an offensive board late in the final five minutes. Those were game-winning plays.”

Burns led all scorers with his 19 points, while McFall also hit double-digit scoring totals with 10 points. Stylianou led Buff rebounders, with five boards. WT shot 45.8 percent from the field, while defensively, the Buffs forced 23 Mustang turnovers.

Richardson paced the Mustangs with 17 points, while Grigsby contributed 12 points. Earl Rabb and Charlie Logan had six rebounds apiece to lead MSU on the boards. The Mustangs shot 42.2 percent from the field and outrebounded WT by a 33-25 margin.

The Buffs hit the road this coming weekend, travelling to Stephenville, Texas, to face Tarleton State, Saturday, Jan. 24. Tip-off at Tarleton’s Wisdom Gym is set for 8 p.m. CST.