March 4, 2006

Box Score

LONE STAR CONFERENCE CHAMPS - TIMES TWO!! West Texas A&M University men's and women's basketball teams both won the LSC Championships, as the 17th-ranked Lady Buffs beat Angelo State University, 83-68, Saturday night at the First United Bank Center. In Durant, Okla., the WTAMU Buffs beat 13th-ranked Tarleton State University, 92-85, marking the second time within a week for the Buffs to beat the Texans. WTAMU becomes the first school to win both the men's and women's conference titles in the same year since 1991 when WTAMU did it.

Junior guard Damien Lolar was named the Tournament MVP, after scoring a career-high 34 points, including 26 in the second half, as WTAMU rallied from a 40-29 halftime deficit by outscoring TSU, 63-45, in the second half.

All five starters scored in double figures, as sophomores, forward Tyler Cooper and guard Kyle Shields tallied 16 points apiece, while senior guards Ronnie Holmes and Steve Jackson netted 13 points each.

Lolor was 5-of-8 from 3-point land, while Cooper hit three treys and Holmes hit two, as WTAMU shot 11-of-26 (42.3 percent) from 3-point land.

It was the second victory over the Texans in a week for the Buffs, who improved to 23-7 overall and claimed the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA-II South Central Tournament, WTAMU's first trip since 2002-03, as the Buffs won their LSC record sixth conference title and first since 2003.

Saturday marked 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, 2003 and now in 2006, and lost last year to TAMU-Commerce. Tarleton State, ironically, has also been in four of the last six finals, losing in 2003 and 2006 to WTAMU and 2002 to Northeastern State, before winning it all in 2004 over Northeastern State.

The NCAA-II Tournament Field will be announced late Sunday night, stay tuned to www.gobuffsgo.com for more information.