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Feb. 7, 2009

Box Score

Portales, N.M. – West Texas A&M clamped down, defensively, in the second half against Eastern New Mexico pull away to a 73-52 win, Saturday night at Greyhound Arena.

The win lifts WTAMU to 15-7 overall, 5-2 in LSC South play, while ENMU falls to 4-18, 0-7 in the LSC South.

After the teams battled evenly over the first nine minutes of the game, a dunk and a trey by Justin Johnson (sophomore, forward, Amarillo, Texas) gave the Buffs a slim lead over the Greyhounds. Scoring by both teams continued back and forth, but free throws by Johnson and Anthony Clark (senior, forward, Dolton, Ill.) pushed the Buffs’ lead back to six points. The Buffs would finish the half with a five-point advantage and a score of 38-33.

Leading in scoring for the Buffs at the half was Justin Johnson and Nick Burns (junior, guard, Portland, Ore.), both with 11 points. The Buffs shot 12-25 from the field and 8-16 from behind the arc; however, they struggled with rebounds, grabbing ten fewer boards than Eastern New Mexico.

The Buffs opened the second half with a three-point play by Bijan Dotson (junior, forward, Oakland, Calif.). An offensive rebound and put-back by Johnson and a trey by Burns quickly lifted the Buffs to a 13 point lead, while the Greyhounds’ first three possessions resulted in turnovers. The Buffs never looked back as they maintained the lead throughout the rest of the game, holding the Greyhounds to only 19 points in the second half.

“We said at halftime that it would be impossible for us to win if we got beat that badly on the boards,” said WT head coach Rick Cooper. “Eastern is a very good rebounding team, but we had to get better. We just need to get more people involved in rebounding.

“I was very proud of the way we played defense in the second half. After the game, the kids were talking about how well they played defense, and that’s something I was glad to see.”

“Justin Johnson made some big threes for us and he played good defense,” Cooper continued.

Finishing the game with a team leading 17 points was Nick Burns, followed by 13 points by Johnson, and 12 by Kyle Shields (senior, guard, Amarillo, Texas), all scored in the second half. Johnson also led the team in rebounds, pulling down six boards. Interestingly, Burns has been the Buffs’ leading scorer in each of their five LSC South victories.

The Buffs shot 49.0 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from behind the arc. While WT struggled on the boards in the first half, it ended the game with only three fewer rebounds than the Greyhounds.

The Buffs remain on the road this week, as they travel to Wichita Falls, Texas, on Wednesday, Feb. 11 to face Midwestern State.

Tip-off at D.L. Ligon Coliseum is set for 8 p.m. CST.