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Feb. 4, 2010

Box Score

Portales, N.M. – On a night which saw both teams’ shooting percentages reflect the snowy conditions outside Greyhound Arena, West Texas A&M saw a nine-point second half lead evaporate as they dropped a 61-58 decision to Eastern New Mexico, Wednesday night in Portales, N.M.

The loss, WTAMU’s fourth in a row, drops them to 11-10 overall, 2-4 in LSC South play, while ENMU broke a three-game losing skid and improves to 8-12 overall, 3-3 LSC South.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this disappointed with a loss,” said WT head coach Rick Cooper. “This is just one that got away from us.

“This team is ‘right there’. I felt like there was a huge disparity at the free throw line, and there was. But that’s’ the way it is on the road. We get tired, give up easy baskets, then we don’t get back to play defense. I’m just disappointed in how we played down the stretch of this game.”

Joe Mincey hit a jumper in the first minute of play to give the Buffs and early lead. They stretched the margin to a quick 5-0 start before the Greyhounds responded with an 8-0 run, taking an 8-5 lead with just over 12 minutes to play in the first half.

The Buffs tied it up when Bijan Dotson hit a short jumper to tie the score at 8-8 with 10:41 to play. WT finally cracked the 10-point barrier when Tory Fernandez hit a pair of free throws to pull WT within 13-10. Alex Davis’ bucket with 3:44 to play in the first made the score 17-12 in favor of ENMU.

The Buffs trailed, 21-18, at the halftime break.

After the Greyhounds opened a six-point lead early in the second half, the Buffs fought back. Chris Tucker hit the Buffs’ first three pointer at the 17:21 mark, pulling them to within 27-26. Mason White followed with a three-pointer of his own to put the Buffs ahead 28-26.

The Buffs’ opened a five point advantage when Tucker hit another three-pointer to put WT up, 36-31. A slam by WT’s Davis at the 12:21 mark gave the Buffs their biggest lead of the game at 38-31, forcing ENMU to take a timeout. Shortly thereafter, LaDarius Hall nailed a three-pointer, putting WT ahead by a 41-34 count.

WT’s defense then stiffened, forcing a five-second violation on ENMU’s next possession, as the Greyhounds were unable to inbound the ball with 11:01 to play. Burns then hit a layup to give the visiting Buffs a 43-33 lead.

ENMU’s Reggie Nelson hit a pair of free throws to narrow the gap to 43-35 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game. A Tyler Jefferson free throw whittled the WT lead to six points, then Nelson hit a running jumper to cut the score to 43-39.

WT’s Hall hit a jumper from the right side of the lane to halt the ‘Hounds mini-run. Nick Burns followed with his first field goal of the game with 7:49 left, to push the Buff’s margin back to seven points at 47-40.

ENMU’s Victor Reid narrowed the Buff lead to five points with a jumper, but WT’s Tucker answered with his third three-pointer of the game to give the Buffs a 52-44 lead.

The Greyhounds erased WT’s lead quickly. Tyler Jefferson hit a pair of free throws to tie the game, 52-52, with 2:52 to play. Nick Burns hit the floor to grab a loose ball and feed Davis for a slam dunk to put WT up, 54-52, with just under two minutes on the clock.

The Greyhounds had an opportunity to tie the score, or take the lead, with a possession and 37.4 seconds to play. The Buffs held fast as Burns picked off a backdoor lob pass. That’s when things got frantic. Chris Tucker was fouled, but missed his free throw, leading to ENMU’s Nelson tying the score with a layup.

Alex Davis hit a short jumper with nine seconds to play, putting WT ahead by two points, only to have ENMU’s Jefferson answer with just 2.4 seconds on the clock to send the game into overtime.

Eastern took a 57-56 lead early in the overtime period, but Jacquiese Holcombe hit his first field goal of the contest to put WT ahead, 58-57.

ENMU’s Jimmie Marshall hit a long jumper to give the Greyhounds a 59-58 lead.

On the other end, Holcombe missed a layup, but Donnie Kidd grabbed the offensive board. Tucker’s three-point shot with 32 seconds to play was off the mark and ENMU grabbed the rebound. Marshall hit a pair of free throws with under 20 seconds left, giving ENMU a 61-58 lead.

The Buffs got off a flurry of three pointers in the closing seconds, but couldn’t get one to fall.

LaDarius Hall had 13 points to lead the Buffs. Dotson and Tucker had nine points apiece. WT outrebounded ENMU 42-36, but committed 19 turnovers.

ENMU’s Reggie Nelson led all scorers with 19 points, while Jefferson finished with 18.

The Buffs and the Greyhounds turn right around and head to Canyon for a rematch this Saturday, Feb. 6, at the First United Bank Center. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CST.