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Buffs Run Over By Greyhounds, 89-74, Monday
Feb. 2, 2004
PORTALES, N.M. - West Texas A&M University was run over by a Greyhound, actually a whole team of them, as the Buffs lost to Eastern New Mexico, 89-74, Monday at ENMU's Greyhound Arena at Portales, N.M. in a Lone Star Conference South division showdown for the divisional lead.
WTAMU dropped its third-straight to ENMU at Greyhound Arena, the site where the Buffs captured the LSC Tournament Championship last season. The Buffs are now 13-7 overall and 3-2 in LSC South action.
ENMU improves to 14-6 overall and 4-1 in the LSC South, having won three in a row.
WTAMU falls out of the four-way tie for first-place in the division, while ENMU takes the divisional lead, a half-game ahead of Midwestern State, which the Greyhounds play Thursday and the Buffs face Saturday. The other team in the four-way tie, Texas A&M-Kingsville, suffered a 62-61 loss to Texas A&M-Commerce.
Monday night, senior guard Rod Prater tallied a game-high 22 points, with 11 points in each half, finishing the night with five 3-pointers, while junior guard Carl Lamb netted 20 points, including 18 in the second half, to go with a team-high five assists. Senior forward Jason Campbell maintained his scoring streak, registering 17 points to go with a team-high eight rebounds.
ENMU, which lit up the scoreboard for 59 second-half points, had three players in double figures, led by Jamaal Hunnicutt's double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, as well as a game-high seven assists, while Kennis Green came off the bench to score 17 points. Garland Coleman netted 14 points, followed by Travazz Buckley with 11 points.
The Greyhounds outrebounded the Buffs, 33-27, and forced 21 WTAMU turnovers.
ENMU shot a blistering 61.1 percent (36-63) from the field, including 6-10 (60.0 percent) from 3-point land. The Greyhounds came into the game 11th in the conference statistics in 3-point percentage (33.0 percent) and last in 3-point FG made (4.0 pg).
WTAMU had a 47.4 shooting percentage (27-57), including 7-17 (41.2 percent) from behind the arc.
ENMU led 30-27 at the half. WTAMU took a 23-22 lead with 6:18 to play, the sixth lead change of the first half, on a pair of free throws from junior forward Carlos Silva.
The Buffs didn't score again for the next 5:26, meanwhile ENMU reeled off six unanswered points to take a 28-23 lead with 3:35 left in the half on a bucket by Irshaun Pinckney. Lamb scored with 52 seconds left, to end the Buffs' drought. Campbell hit a two free throws to pull WTAMU to within 28-27 with 32.8 seconds remaining in the half.
However, ENMU's Garland Coleman hit a running layup with eight seconds left to give the Greyhounds their 30-27 halftime lead.
Coleman tallied 10 points in the first half, offsetting Prater, who led all scorers with 11 points at the break.
The Buffs' Achilles heel in the first half was turnovers, as they committed 14 miscues, compared to 13 for the Greyhounds. ENMU also outrebounded WTAMU, 16-13 in the first half.
After the Buffs cut the lead to one, the Greyhounds erupted for nine unanswered points to take a 39-29 lead with 17:54 left and forcing at WTAMU timeout.
The Buffs chipped away, whittling the deficit to 45-40 with 14:04 to play on a bucket by Lamb.
However, from there, the Greyhounds were off to the races, running away with a 21-5 streak to take a 66-45 lead, capped by a 3-pointer by Edmound Elzy at the 8:57 mark.
The Buffs cut the score to 76-65 with 3:06 to play on a pair of charity shots from Lamb. Prater netted three treys down the stretch to keep the Greyhounds from leaving the Buffs in the dust.
WTAMU returns to action on Saturday, traveling to Denton, Texas to take on Midwestern State in an 8 p.m. LSC South contest.
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