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Feb. 16, 2008

Box Score

CANYON, Texas - The Buffs clinched their ticket to the 2008 Lone Star Conference Championship in Bartlesville, Okla., on Saturday night as the West Texas A&M men's basketball team defeated Eastern New Mexico, 72-58, in front of 1,981 fans at the First United Bank Center.

With the victory, the Buffs improve their overall mark this season to 18-6, including an 8-1 mark in LSC South Division action. The Greyhounds, meanwhile, fall to 6-18 this season and 0-9 in league play.

Senior Chris Hinz put together a solid night's work, finishing the contest with a season-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Classmate Pierre Barlow was also a sparkplug for the Buffs in the contest, finishing with career-high 15 points and providing high-energy play through out the affair.

The Buffs got off to a cold shooting start in the game, missing their first six shots of the ball game and falling behind 6-0 before Barlow broke the ice with a long distance basket at the 14:32 mark.

Barlow then gave the Buffs their first lead of the night, 8-6, but the Greyhounds quickly regained the advantage on back-to-back baskets from Kendall Clark and Matt Churchman.

A slick pass from Robert Lee found Chris Hinz alone on the low block for an uncontested layup, knotting the game at 10-10 with 10:03 to play. The score sparked a 6-0 run for the Buffs which left them ahead 14-10 with 8:38 to play.

Lee, who produced 30 points in Wednesday's road victory over Midwestern State, tallied 16 points, including 12 during the second half of play.

The Greyhounds were able to counter with two quick baskets but Tyler Cooper put the Buffs back in front with a three-pointer at the 7:53 mark. The half remained tight, with WT remaining on top and getting a running jumper from Robert Lee in the waning seconds of the period to head into the intermission leading 24-21.

The Buffs retook the floor in the second half with more vigor, starting the period on an 8-4 run and taking a seven-point lead on an old-fashioned three-point play by Hinz at the 17:45 mark.

Justin Redman-Trotter's jumper with 13:11 to play cut the WT lead to only one at 39-38 and the Greyhounds were able to again cut their deficit to just a single point against at 41-40 with 11:18 to play. The visitors from Portales, N.M., took their first lead since the 8:02 mark of the second half when Clark scored to make it 42-41in favor of ENMU.

Lee was able to put the Buffs back on top as he made both free throws of a one-and-one opportunity with 9:07 left on the clock. The Fort Worth, Texas, native continued the momentum swing for WT as he tallied the next points of the ball game on a three-pointer with 8:06 to play.

The Buffs stretched their lead to double-digits, 58-47, with 4:13 remaining as Pierre Barlow scored fast break lay-ups on back-to-back possessions; he was fouled on the second lay-up and converted the three-point play to put the Buffs ahead by 11.

Another fast break lay-up by Barlow pushed WT's lead to 14 with just 47 seconds on the clock as the Buffs went on to collect their 18th win of the season.

The Buffs are back in action on Wednesday when they continue their current four-game home stand as they host Texas A&M-Kingsville in an 8 p.m. contest.