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Jan. 30, 2008

Box Score

KINGSVILLE, Texas - For the second straight season, the Buffs walked off the court at Steinke Center as winners as the road warriors of the West Texas A&M men's basketball team defeated Texas A&M-Kingsville 60-57. The victory on Wednesday night was only the fourth win against the Javelinas in Kingsville, Texas, for the Buffs since 1994.

The win puts the Buffs back in the win column, improving WT's overall record to 14-6 and the team's mark in Lone Star Conference South Division play to 4-1. Texas A&M-Kingsville, meanwhile, falls to 13-6 on the season and 2-2 in league action.

"Pierre hit some really big free throws down the stretch and Kyle was also really solid in the game's final few minutes," said WT head coach Rick Cooper. "Kingsville is a really solid squad and a tough team to guard. This is a really great win for us in a tough environment. Limiting our turnovers to only five during the second half was really the difference in the game for us."

Senior Robert Lee, who entered Wednesday leading the LSC in scoring during conference play at 22.3 points per contest, tied teammate Kyle Shields with a game-high 14 points. Shields also dished out five assists on the night, while senior Chris Hinz finished play with 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Senior Pierre Barlow rounded out the Buffs in double figure scoring with 10 points, including a pair of free throws with just 15 seconds remaning to secure  the WT victory.

A three-pointer by Kingsville's Adan Montalvo on the game's opening possession got the Javelinas off to a running start in the ball game as the basket sparked a 10-2 run by the home squad to begin the contest. For their part, the Buffs were sluggish in the early goings, misfiring on four of their first five field goal attempts in addition to being guilty of six early turnovers.

The Javelina lead reached as many as 11 at 15-4 with 13:19 to play, but the Buffs rallied with a 13-0 run to take their first lead of the night, 17-15, at the 8:41 mark of the first half on a dunk by senior Andre Hill.

After the WT run, the score remained close but the Buffs were unable to claim a basket in the period's final 2:06, allowing Texas A&M-Kingsville to take a four-point lead, 31-27, into the intermission. After their slow start, the Buffs recovered to shoot 45.5 percent for the opening period, making 10-of-22 shots from the field and converting 6-of-7 free throw opportunities. Turnovers were a big factor for WT in the opening 20 minutes as the Buffs committed 14 during the period.

Following the intermission, WT made several adjustments which including doing a better job of ball handling, leading to only five turnovers during the second half. The Buffs shot 47.8 percent during the period, making 11-of-23 shots. Lee scored 10 of his 14 points during the second half, while both Hinz and Shields chipped in with eight apiece during the period.

With just over seven minutes to play, Texas A&M-Kingsville appeared in control of the game as the Javelinas held a three-point advantage. After a lay-up by Hinz, Barlow was able to slice to the basket and score at the 3:11 mark to give WT a 54-53 lead. The advantage would remain in favor of WT as the Buffs held strong and outscored the Javelinas, 10-4, during the game's final seven minutes to post the program's first back-to-back wins in Kingsville since the 1998-99 and 1999-00 seasons.

The season-long five-game road trip for the Buffs continues next Thursday when they travel to Abilene, Texas, to battle Abilene Christian.