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Feb. 9, 2008

Box Score

SAN ANGELO, Texas - Four Buffs scored in double digits, including senior Robert Lee who tallied his second career double-double with a team-high 24 points and 11 rebounds, en route to an 84-78 West Texas A&M victory over Angelo State on Saturday night.

"Robert's an excellent guard. He can put the bball on the floor and challenge, and he's got a good enough three shot," said head coach Rick Cooper. "He's an extraordinary athlete and he got some good rebounds. He's an extraordinary basketball player and he's been making some good choices for us."

In addition to Lee, senior Chris Hinz recorded a season-high 18 points while junior Keon Grant had 14 and junior Kyle Shields had 10. Senior Tyler Cooper recorded a career-high 13 rebounds to go along with his eight points.

"Hinz works as hard as any kid I've ever seen. He pins, powers the ball up - he's very difficult to guard and I'm very proud of him," said Cooper. "Tyler rebounded well tonight. He hasn't shot the ball as well lately but he's figured out what he needs to do to help us win the game, and he did it tonight."

Angelo State jumped out to an early 16-9 lead after sinking 4-of-7 three-pointers; the Rams finished the half shooting 55.6% from long range. But WT would work its way back into the game with the help of back-to-back three-pointers from Cooper and Grant, which pulled the Buffs within two points, 24-22, with 7:37 on the clock.

ASU went on an 11-2 run over the next three minutes to take its biggest lead of the half at 35-24 after Jerod Haynes hit a three pointer, but again the Buffs fought back and came within two points as they went on a 10-4 run of their own, including eight points from Hinz.

The Amarillo, Texas, native grabbed an offensive board and was fouled on the put back; he converted an old-fashioned three-point play with six ticks left to send the teams to the locker rooms with the Buffs trailing by just one point, 41-40.

Grant gave WT its first lead since the opening drive of the game when he drainer a three-pointer at the 17:40 mark of the second half. His basket put the Buffs ahead, 43-41, after the Rams' Quinn Barfield missed two free throws.

ASU's Derrick Webster tied the game at 50-50 with 13:25 to play, but senior Andre Hill made a lay-up just seconds later to put WT back on top. The Buffs extended their lead to 59-55 when Grant sank another three-pointer, this time with a wide open look from the left side. Angelo State again would tie the game just under a minute later when Jerod Haynes sank a jumper but Lee stepped up for WT at the 8:37 mark when he answered with a jumper of his own.

Haynes' basket was the last time that the Rams would tie the game as WT went on to outscore ASU in the last minutes of play. The Buffs stretched their lead to as much as nine points on three occasions when Lee sank a lay-up at the 2:16 mark, Shields made two free throws with 33 seconds left and again when Lee sank two shots from the charity stripe, but a three-pointer by Haynes with just nine seconds to play cut the Buffs lead to just six points to finish the game.

The Buffs are next in action on Feb. 13 when they travel to Wichita Falls to face Midwestern State in an 8 p.m. match-up.