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Buffs Tame Lions, 67-57, In Home Opener Friday
Nov. 26, 2004
The West Texas A&M University men's basketball team again used a second-half surge, this time a 12-2 run, to tame the Missouri Southern State University Lions, 67-57, Friday in the first night of the Coca-Cola/First United Bank Thanksgiving Shootout at the WTAMU Event Center.
Senior forward Jamil Terrell recorded his second-straight double-double with 26 points and 13 rebounds, while junior guard Govinda Thomas-Carter added 19 points, including 9-9 from the free throw line.
WTAMU won its second in a row and improves to 2-1 on the young season and will face Lone Star Conference foe Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Saturday's championship game at 6 p.m. SWOSU defeated Arkansas Tech, 64-57, in Friday's earlier game. It will be a rematch of last year's WTAMU Thanksgiving Shootout, which SWOSU clobbered the Buffs, 76-56, before WTAMU bounced back to edge the Bulldogs, 70-64, at Weatherford, Okla. in their regular-season LSC Crossover Clash. SWOSU returns to Canyon next Thursday for this year's Crossover game.
MSSU drops to 1-3 and will face Arkansas Tech at 4 p.m.
The Lions were led by a double-double from Orestus Cavness with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Quentin Edwards added 13 points and Hiram Ocasio added 11 points off the bench.
MSSU's bench outscored WTAMU's, 24-9, and the Lions outrebounded the Buffs, 33-31, including garnering 15 on the offensive glass.
Both teams committed 25 turnovers apiece.
There were six ties and seven lead changes, with the last one coming at the 12:02 mark on a pair of Terrell free throws to give WTAMU a 36-35 lead. That sparked the Buffs' 12-2 run that gave them a 45-37 lead capped by a lay-up from Terrell at 8:45.
After MSSU closed to 47-44 on a 3-pointer from Edwards, the Buffs went on a 14-7 run to take a 61-51 on an old fashioned three-point play with 2:16 left on the clock.
The Lions never cut the gap to under six from that point on, as the Buffs had their largest lead of the game at 67-55 on a dunk from Terrell with 23 seconds left in the game.
Saturday's action begins at 1 p.m. with the NCAA Champion's Challenge at the WTAMU Event Center, where fans can experience shooting games, play the latest NCAA Basketball video games and test their vertical leap, as well as have unique photo opportunities, a kid's court section and the chance to win great NCAA Basketball prizes.
The WTAMU women will take on the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs at 2 p.m., followed by the Consolation game at 4 p.m. and the Championship game at 6 p.m.
Fans who can make the games can tune into the Buffalo Sports Network on KGNC 710 AM or on the Internet at www.gobuffsgo.com.
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