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Dec. 2, 2004

Box Score

The West Texas A&M University men's basketball team suffered their second loss in a week to No. 14 Southwestern Oklahoma State University, and by the same amount, dropping a 53-50 decision Thursday night in a Lone Star Conference Crossover clash at the WTAMU Event Center.

The Buffs suffered a tough, 50-47 overtime loss to the Bulldogs last Saturday night in the Championship game of the WTAMU Coca-Cola/First United Bank Thanksgiving Shootout, and were trying to avenge that loss, but came up short. WTAMU outshot SWOSU from the floor, 40.0 percent (16-40) to 35.6 percent (16-45) and outrebounded them, 35-36, yet the Buffs committed 23 turnovers which the Bulldogs converted into 17 points. SWOSU committed 15 miscues which WTAMU could only turn into six points.

The Bulldogs were led by 19 points from Ike Smith, while Lee J. Kirkpatrick added 10 points.

WTAMU was led by junior guard Govinda Thomas-Carter's 18 points, draining 3-of-6 3-pointers, as well as pulling down a game-high seven rebounds. Senior forward Jamil Terrell tallied 10 points and six rebounds, pulling down all six in the second half. Terrell, this week's LSC South Player of the Week, had his double-double streak stopped at three, but did swat a career-high five shots.

Things looked promising for the Buffs in the early going as they took a 14-4 lead at the 12:16 mark on two charity shots from senior guard Carl Lamb. The advantage swelled to 23-11 after a 3-pointer from senior forward Richard Higginbotham with 6:56 left in the first half.

Lamb later gave WTAMU its biggest lead of the game at 31-16 with 10 seconds to play with two more free throws, before SWOSU closed to 31-19 at the half after three free throws from Alex Robles.

In Saturday's game, the Bulldogs failed to score for the first nine minutes of the second half, but they charged out of halftime with a 20-7 run to take a 39-38 lead at the 9:00 mark on a trey by Smith from deep in the corner.

The Buffs stormed back and took a 48-43 lead with 5:16 to go on a 3-pointer from the wing by Thomas-Carter, but the Bulldogs got five-straight points from Smith to take a 49-48 lead with 2:56 remaining.

Thomas-Carter gave the Buffs a brief 50-49 lead with a jumper at 2:29, but Jon Gunn hit a 3-pointer from the wing with 2:13 on the clock to put SWOSU ahead, 52-50.

The teams traded turnovers without a shot, before Terrell swatted a layup attempt by Gun with 1:00 to go, giving the Buffs the ball. With the shot clock running down, junior guard Steve Jackson hoisted a 3-pointer that Smith got a piece of the ball which fell short, forcing a shot clock violation with 25 seconds left.

Junior guard Jarvis Brown nearly stole the Bulldogs' inbounds pass, but SWOSU regained control and got the ball upcourt to break the press, forcing Lamb to foul for the fifth time, fouling out.

SWOSU's Jamaal Shell missed both ensuing free throws and Terrell rebounded, but the Buffs turned the ball over before getting a shot off, and Robles hit one of two free throws with 5.5 seconds left.

After a Bulldog timeout to set up their defense, freshman guard Kyle Shields got off a contested 3-pointer that fell short as the buzzer blared to end the game.

SWOSU remains undefeated at 7-0 on the season while WTAMU drops to 2-3.

The Buffs return to the court on Saturday to face another unbeaten team, taking on Cameron University in another LSC Crossover contest. The Aggies are 6-0 after pulling away from Eastern New Mexico University, 80-74, Thursday night.

Saturday's game tips off at 8 p.m., following the WTAMU women's game as Lady Buffs' head coach Bob Schneider goes for his 1,000th all-time coaching victory.

Should the Lady Buffs win, fans will receive a mini-basketball commemorating Coach Schneider's feat, courtesy of State Farm Bank and Kenny Dean Insurance.

Call the WTAMU Athletics Ticket Office at (806) 651-4424 for more information, or visit the official WTAMU Athletics web site at www.gobuffsgo.com.

Fans can also tune into the Buffalo Sports Network broadcast of the game, on KGNC 710 AM or streamed on the Internet on www.gobuffsgo.com.

-WT-