March 4, 2006

Box Score

DURANT, Okla. -- Junior guard Damien Lolar hit two free throws with 8.6 seconds left to give West Texas A&M University a 64-62 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State University Friday night in the LSC Tournament semifinals at SOSU's Bloomer Sullivan Gymnasium at Durant, Okla. The Buffs will face Tarleton State University for the conference championship Saturday night at 7 p.m.

The Buffs improve to 22-7 with the win and will be tangling with Tarleton State, the LSC South champ, who edged the University of Central Oklahoma, 73-71, in Friday's other semifinal.

It will be the second year in a row and fourth in the last six for WTAMU to playing in the championship game, as the Buffs won the conference crown in 2001 and 2003, and lost last year to TAMU-Commerce. Tarleton State, ironically, has also been in four of the last six finals, losing in 2003 to WTAMU and 2002 to Northeastern State, before winning it all in 2004 over Northeastern State.

It is the 10th LSC Tournament Final appearance for WTAMU, a conference record, and the Buffs are also going for their LSC-record sixth title.

Lolar snared a career-high 18 rebounds to go with 15 points in recording his sixth double-double of the season and second in a row.

Senior guards Ronnie Holmes and Govinda Thomas-Carter netted 13 points apiece, as Holmes hit three 3-pointers and Thomas-Carter drained two, while fellow senior guard Steve Jackson tallied a dozen points.

Holmes also dished out a game-high five assists, while junior forward Goran Stanic logged a game-high three blocked shots, part of the season-high nine rejections by WTAMU, matching their season-high from the last meeting against SOSU, when the Buffs won, 86-80, in OT, back on Jan. 12 at Canyon.

Fans can tune into Saturday's Championship game on the Buffalo Sports Network on KGNC 710 AM or streamed on the Internet at www.gobuffsgo.com. The pre-game broadcast will start at 6:30 p.m. with tip-off set for 7 p.m.

The WTAMU women's LSC Championship game will be broadcast on 91.1 FM only, with pre-game show starting at 6:50 p.m.