Roster | Schedule | News | Archives | Home

Jan. 23, 2010

Box Score

Canyon, Texas – West Texas A&M suffered a second-consecutive loss and their first home defeat of the season, as Tarleton State handed the Buffaloes a 69-56 defeat, Saturday night in front of 2,535 fans at the First United Bank Center in Canyon, Texas.

WTAMU falls to 11-8 overall, 2-2 in LSC South play, while TSU improves to 15-3 overall, 3-0 LSC South.

“We were simply outplayed and out-toughed tonight,” said WT head coach Rick Cooper. “Tarleton State has won some road games this season and have proven to be road tested. We simply aren’t tough enough at this point of the season.

“They scored 16 straight points early in the second half and we just didn’t have an answer for that. We turned the ball over too many times and we turned the ball over at critical times. You don’t win games that way.”

After being tied, 12-12, at the 11:11 mark of the first half, the Buffs opened a 21-16 lead. LaDarius Hall’s three-pointer, a tip-in by Bijan Dotson and a pair of Joe Mincey free throws provided WT’s offensive surge.

TSU came back, taking a 23-21 lead at the 3:44 mark on Devon Hill’s lay-in.

Nick Burns’ three-pointer from the left wing put WT back on top, 20-28, with 1:05 to play. Burns then stole the ball on the other end of the court which led to a pair of Hall free throws.

TSU’s Hill nailed a 25-foot three from atop the key to tie the game at the half, 31-31.

The Buffs suffered a loss at the 5:09 second mark when forward Justin Tubbs landed awkwardly on his leg and left the game with an apparent knee injury.

Tarleton State scored 13 of the first 15 points of the second half to take a 44-33 lead over the first 6:10 of the second half.

The Buffs pulled to within 48-43 on a pair of Mincey free throws and a short jumper by Jacquiese Holcombe.

But Tarleton kept scoring. A three-pointer by Effran Bryant gave the Texans their biggest lead of the game at 55-43 with 7:26 to play in the second half. To that point, TSU was hitting 57 percent from the field.

The Buffs didn’t help their cause by missing four consecutive free throw opportunities.

Mincey hit a pair of free throws at 5:26 to slow the Texans run and pull WT to within 59-45. But Tarleton seemingly couldn’t miss from the field, as they ran away to the 69-56 win.

For the game, Tarleton hit 59.0 percent from the field, including 68.4 percent over the second half of play. Bryant led the Texans with 19 points, while Devon Hills added 16 and Corin Henry scored 11. Donta Smith led Texan rebounders with seven boards.

The Buffs were paced by Mincey’s 18 points, while Hall contributed 11 points. Bijan Dotson, Donnie Kidd, Burns and Hall each had five rebounds apiece to lead WT on the boards. WT outrebounded TSU by a 31-23 margin, but hit just 41.3 percent from the floor.

The Buffs’ next game will be Wednesday, Jan. 27, when they visit Angelo State. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CST.