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Feb. 24, 2005

Box Score

The West Texas A&M University men's basketball team had six players in double-digits to overtake Texas A&M University-Kingsville, 81-70, Thursday night in a Lone Star Conference South Division clash at the WTAMU Event Center.

WTAMU outscored TAMU-K 10-0 over the final 2:27 of the game for the win, to finish the regular season 14-13 overall and 8-4 in LSC South play. The Buffs must now sit and wait the outcome of Saturday's games to find out their seed in the LSC Tournament, as they can finish anywhere from second to fourth in the LSC South. WTAMU will nab the No. 2 seed and a home quarterfinal game on Tuesday if Midwestern State University loses at Abilene Christian. If Midwestern State wins, Texas A&M-Kingsville wins at Eastern New Mexico University and Texas A&M University-Commerce loses, then WTAMU will be the No. 3 seed. If Midwestern State, TAMU-Kingsville and TAMU-Commerce all win, then the Buffs will be the No. 4 seed. The North division is locked in with the University of Central Oklahoma as division champion, followed by Tarleton State University at No. 2, followed by Southwestern Oklahoma State University at No. 3 and Southeastern Oklahoma State University at No. 4.

Thursday's victory was WTAMU's fifth home win over TAMU-K in the last six games at Canyon, as the Buffs split the season-series and hold a 29-18 all-time lead over the Javelinas.

WTAMU overcame TAMU-K's Richard Hamilton's double-double with 32 points and 15 rebounds, as well as being outrebounded, 40-34, by having six players in double-figures, the Buffs' most this season, as well as forcing 20 Javelina turnovers and limiting TAMU-K to 35.5 percent shooting (22-of-62) from the field, including 27.0 percent (10-of-37) in the second half.

Meanwhile, WTAMU was 63.6 percent (14-of-22) from the floor after halftime, but were 14-of-25 (56.0 percent) from the free throw line in the second stanza, unable to put TAMU-K away.

The Buffs' bench outscored their counterparts, 40-7, and WTAMU had a 16-2 advantage on fast break points.

There were seven ties in the contest and the lead changed hands four times.

Senior forward Jason Campbell scored his second-highest output of the season with a team-high 14 points, including going 6-of-8 (75.0 percent) from the charity stripe. Classmate, guard Carl Lamb tallied 13 points to go with four assists, matching junior backcourt mate Ronnie Holmes, who also had 11 points. Senior forwards Carlos Silva, Richard Higginbotham and Jamil Terrell all had 10 points apiece in their final regular season home game in a Buffs' uniform.

Terrell and Campbell led WTAMU with six rebounds each, while Terrell registered six blocks.

For TAMU-K, Hamilton, who had his double-double in the first half with 16 points and 10 rebounds and played all 40 minutes of the game, was followed by 14 points from Richard Gonzalez, while Quendale Allensworth added eight points for the Javelinas, who lost for the fourth time in the last six games, slipping off the upper portion of the division standings and will finish either third or fourth.

A jumper from Hamilton gave TAMU-K a 10-4 lead at 15:37 of the first half before a thunderous fast break dunk from Terrell sparked WTAMU to rally, as the Buffs took a 29-23 lead with 5:38 left in the half on a jumper from freshman guard Kyle Shields.

Silva hit two free throws with three seconds left in the half to give the Buffs a 36-35 halftime lead.

Terrell hit 1-of-2 free throws with 10:19 on the clock to put WTAMU ahead, 57-51, but TAMU-K closed to 58-56 after a pair of free throws by Juan Lanauze at the 9:00 mark.

After WTAMU surged to a 71-64 lead with 4:35 to play on two Terrell free throws, TAMU-K again charged back, closing to 71-70 with 2:27 left after a layup from Hamilton.

That would be the Javelinas last points of the game, as junior guard Govinda Thomas-Carter drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing to spark WTAMU's 10-0 game-clinching streak.

While the Buffs' prepare for postseason play, the WTAMU women conclude regular season action by hosting Texas Woman's University on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. 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 for Saturday's game and for the Buffs' game Tuesday if they wind up hosting.

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.

-WT-