Feb. 24, 2007

Box Score

CANYON, Texas - With four starters sitting on the bench in street clothes, the West Texas A&M men's basketball team put up a gritty effort in their regular season finale, led by junior forward Chris Hinz who contributed a team-high 19 points, but the Buffs came up short, falling by the score of 61-55 on Saturday at the First United Bank Center.

WTAMU sees its overall record fall to 17-9 on the year and its conference mark fall to 9-3. Midwestern State improves to 20-6 on the year and 9-3 in league play to tie WTAMU atop the LSC South standings. MSU will enter next week's LSC Tournament as the top seed by virtue of two head-to-head victories against the Buffs. WTAMU meanwhile will enter the field as the South's second seed and will face off against Texas A&M-Commerce at the First United Bank Center on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

The first half was a back and forth affair that featured four lead changes and three ties. Both teams connected on 11-of-25 (44 percent) during the period, but Midwestern State, which held a lead by as many as eight during the period, was able to convert three more shots from long distance during the half to take a three point advantage, 32-29, into the locker room at intermission.

Hinz led a balanced scoring attack by the Buffs in the first half with eight points on 3-of-6 shooting from the floor. Junior Kevin "Chip" Green was also a factor, contributing seven points and four rebounds in the period.

During the second half, Midwestern State started hot on their way to building a 12-point lead at the 8:35 mark, but the Mustangs could not bury the home-standing Buffaloes. WTAMU rallied at the point with a 16-4 run to knot the score at 55-55 with only 1:13 to play. That would be as close as the Buffs could get, as the Mustangs scored on several key possessions down the stretch to clinch the victory.

Senior Danien Lolar missed the game with an injury, joining junior guard Mike Baskerville, junior forward Tyler Cooper and junior guard Kyle Shields on the list of WTAMU starters to miss significant time to injury this season.