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Quartet Of Double-Doubles Leads Buffs To LSC Tournament Berth-Clinching Win
Feb. 14, 2006
A rare four players posting double-doubles helped the West Texas A&M University men's basketball team clinch a spot in the Lone Star Conference Tournament with an 87-73 win over Abilene Christian University Tuesday night in an LSC South clash at the First United Bank Center. The win moved WTAMU to 13-0 at home this season and the Buffs are on a 17-game home winning streak. WTAMU is now 18-6 overall and 7-2 in LSC South play.
ACU lost its sixth-straight, in falling to 8-17 overall and 3-7 in the LSC South.
It was WTAMU's 14th-straight win over ACU, as the Buffs now lead the all-time series, 63-21.
Senior forward Patrick Culver tallied his fifth double-double of the season with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while junior guard Damien Lolar logged his fourth double-double of the year with 19 points and a career-high and game-high 15 rebounds. Senior guards Ronnie Holmes and Govinda Thomas-Carter recorded their first career double-doubles, as Holmes established a new career high with 10 assists to go with 17 points. Thomas-Carter set new career highs in both points and assists with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Holmes was 4-of-5 from 3-point range and Thomas-Carter was 3-of-9, as the Buffs were 7-of-20 (35.0 percent) behind the arc, including 5-of-10 (50.0 percent) in the first half, as the Buffs took a 49-36 halftime lead.
WTAMU hit
ACU shot 38.6 percent (27-of-70) from the field, including a whopping 16-of-35 (45.7 percent) from behind the 3-point arc. The Wildcats were just 3-of-4 (75.0 percent) at the free throw line.
The Buffs dominated play down low, having a 48-16 points in the paint advantage, as well as a controlling 56-30 rebounding edge, including 23 offensive board, which contributed to a 22-11 margin on second chance points, and 15-2 fast break points.
The Wildcats were led by Tiago Souza' 24 points, hitting seven 3-pointers, one of four ACU players to drain two or more treys on the night.
The game began with three ties and eight lead changes in the first 11 minutes, before the Buffs pulled away from a 21-21 tie with a 7-0 run, after Thomas-Carter hit a trey, and then had a steal and fed Lolar on the break, who lofted an alley off the backboard and Culver followed with the oop for the highlight reel dunk. Culver was fouled on the play and hit the ensuing free throw to a 28-21 WTAMU lead at the 8:30 mark.
The Buffs stretched the lead to 49-36 at intermission, closing out the half with a 9-2 run over the last 2:37.
The Wildcats came out of halftime and trimmed the gap to 49-44 just 2:40 into the half on a Souza 3-pointer, but the Buffs pulled away with a 22-6 streak, capped by a trey from Holmes for a 71-50 lead with 10:25 on the game clock and ACU never got within 12 points from there on out.
The Buffs head to San Angelo, Texas on Saturday, Feb. 18 to face Angelo State University at 8 p.m in an LSC South contest.
Fans can follow the action on the Buffalo Sports Network, on KGNC 710 AM or streamed on the internet at www.gobuffsgo.com.
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