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Feb. 12, 2005

Box Score

ABILENE, Texas --- The West Texas A&M University men's basketball team had four players in double-figures to lead the Buffs to a 78-68 win over Abilene Christian University, in a Lone Star Conference South Division contest Saturday afternoon at ACU's Moody Coliseum. It was WTAMU's second win over ACU in a week and was the Buffs' 12th-straight win over the Wildcats.

WTAMU was led by 14 points by senior guard Carl Lamb, including four 3-pointers, while senior forwards Carlos Silva and Jamil Terrell, as well as junior guard Steve Jackson added 12 points apiece. It was Jackson's career-high for points and he also swiped a career-high nine steals.

ACU was led by Hakim Rasul, who tallied 20 points before fouling out, while Matthias Krieg tallied a double-double off the bench with 16 points and 10 rebounds. David Baxter, ACU's second leading scorer added nine points, 12 points below his season average of 21.0, which ranks second in the conference behind Rasul's 25.9 ppg.

WTAMU shot 27-of-61 (44.3 percent) from the field, including 7-of-23 (30.4 percent) from behind the 3-point arc, including hitting six treys in the first half as the Buffs took a 39-30 halftime lead.

ACU was 22-of-62 (35.5 percent) from the field, including 3-of-16 (18.8 percent) from 3-point land, as Baxter was 1-of-10.

WTAMU won despite being outscored by ACU from the free throw line, 21-17, and were outrebounded, 48-36, but the Buffs had a 14-3 advantage on second-chance points, as well as a 38-28 points in the paint edge. The WTAMU bench outscored its counterparts, 38-21.

The Buffs now hold a 61-21 all-time lead in the series, with the last loss to the Wildcats back in 1997.

Saturday afternoon's contest started as a Rasul vs. WTAMU's 3-point shooting, as Rasul had ACU's first six points, while the Buffs hit four treys to take a 14-12 lead. WTAMU opened the game with a jumper from senior forward Jason Campbell, whose feet were just over the 3-point line before Lamb hit back-to-back treys, followed by a 3-pointer by junior guard Jarvis Brown.

Jackson later had a steal and a fast break dunk. Later Silva hit a layup, and then had a dunk at the Buffs opened a 23-17 lead at 10:07, prompting an ACU timeout.

Later, Lamb hit a trey followed by a Terrell dunk and WTAMU had a 33-23 lead with 3:23 left in the half. Less than two minutes later Jackson had another dunk, followed by a fast break layup before Rasul hit a bucket with 1.8 seconds left to pull ACU within, 39-30 at the half.

After the Wildcats cut the deficit to 43-39 in the first three and a half minutes of the half, the Buffs went on a 9-0 run to stretch their lead back to 52-39 with 14:39 left on a free throw by senior forward Richard Higginbotham.

ACU trimmed the gap to 65-62 with 6:38 and at 70-66 with 3:30 to play. Jackson had a steal and layup with 1:52 left in the game, and then drew a charge on Baxter in the back court to thwart the Wildcats' rally. The Buffs hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

WTAMU will wrap up its five-game road swing next weekend, traveling to Wichita Falls, Texas to take on Midwestern State University on Thursday, Feb. 17, before heading to Commerce, Texas to face Texas A&M University-Commerce on Saturday, Feb. 19. The Buffs will then travel across the state line on Monday, Feb. 21 to take on border-rival Eastern New Mexico University at 8 p.m. Central Time.

Fans can tune into WTAMU Basketball action on the Buffalo Sports Network on KGNC 710 AM or streamed on the internet at www.gobuffsgo.com.

The Lady Buffs and Buffs return home to host Texas A&M University-Kingsville on Thursday, Feb. 24 in the final regular-season doubleheader. The WTAMU women conclude regular season action by hosting Texas Woman's University on Saturday, Feb. 26. The world renowned slam dunk acrobatic group "The Extreme Team" will be performing at halftime.

Contact the WTAMU Athletics Ticket Office at 806-651-4424 for ticket information.

-WT-