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WTAMU Tames Wildcats of ACU, 76-61, Force Tie Atop LSC South
Jan. 31, 2004
The West Texas A&M University men's basketball team used a 14-2 run in the first half to break open the game and senior guard Rod Prater netted 20 second-half points as the Buffs defeated Abilene Christian University, 76-61, in a Lone Star Conference South division contest Saturday night at the WTAMU Event Center, in front of a season-best 2,302 fans, including JJ Jumper, the official mascot of NCAA Basketball.
With the win the Buffs improve to 13-6 overall and 3-1 in LSC South, forcing a four-way tie atop the division standings entering Monday's showdown at co-leader Eastern New Mexico.
The win was also WTAMU's 10th in the last 12 games, and the Buffs' ninth-straight over the Wildcats, improving to 58-21 all-time vs. ACU.
The Wildcats' loss was their fourth in the last five games and they are now 10-9 overall and 1-3 in LSC South play.
Prater, who was just 2-8 from the field with only seven points in the first half, finished with a game-high 27 points, including 11-13 from the free throw line. Junior forward Richard Higginbotham had a career-high 16 points and pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds to finish with his second double-double of the season. Two other Buffs finished in double-figures, as junior guard Carl Lamb came off the bench to score 11 points to go with his game-high six assists, while senior forward Jason Campbell tallied 10 points.
ACU was led by Matthias Krieg's 15 points, while Tucker Pierson posted a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, helping the Wildcats to a 44-37 rebounding edge, including 20 offensive boards.
The Buffs shot 41.8 percent from the field (23-55), including just 5-15 (33.3 percent) from behind the 3-point arc, including just 1-8 in the second half.
However, the WTAMU defense held ACU to 36.9 shooting percentage (24-65), including 3-13 (23.1 percent) from 3-point land and also forced 22 Wildcat turnovers.
The Buffs outscored the Wildcats, 25-10 from the free throw line, improving to 13-2 when shooting more free throws than the opposition, as WTAMU made more than ACU even attempted, shooting 25-36 from the charity stripe, while ACU was 10-21.
The Wildcats had a 14-12 lead with 11:37 remaining in the opening half after a layup from Mauro Matai. The Buffs then went on a 14-2 run over the next seven minutes, capped by a old-fashioned three-point play from Higginbotham to go up 26-16 with 4:36 until halftime.
Krieg hit a layup at the buzzer to pull ACU to within 34-26 at the half.
WTAMU opened a 47-31 lead with 13:26 left on a trey from Prater and the Buffs held a double-digit lead over the next 11 minutes of the game, as ACU cut the deficit to nine at 68-59 with 2:14 to play on a layup from Rodney Lee. However, the Wildcats could cut it to anything under nine as ACU didn't score in the final 35 seconds after closing to 70-61. WTAMU hit 4-6 free throws down the stretch to hold the Wildcats at bay.
WTAMU has little time to rest as the Buffs will travel to Portales, N.M. on Monday, Feb. 1, to take on border-rival and fellow divisional co-leader Eastern New Mexico, with an identical 13-6 overall and 3-1 LSC South record. The Greyhounds used a 17-4 second-half run to overtake Angelo State, 83-78, Saturday.
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