Jan. 23, 2007

West Texas A&M Men's Basketball Notes in PDF Format
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CANYON, Texas - Seeking its third victory in a row, the West Texas A&M men's basketball team will square off against Lone Star Conference South Division rival Tarleton State on Wednesday night in an 8 p.m. match-up at the First United Bank Center in what has become one of the league's most heated series. The recent history of competition between the two schools has been intense as the teams split a pair of regular season meetings last year before the Buffs downed the LSC South Division top-seed Texans in the LSC Tournament final to claim the 2005-06 conference crown.

Wednesday's game will be its first in LSC South action for Tarleton State (11-4), which will be looking to make good on the top billing it recieved in the Lone Star Conference South preseason poll. The Texans received 12 first place votes in the preseason poll back in October, while defending conference champion WTAMU check in at third in the poll. The Texans are coming off of an 88-42 win over Rhema Bible on Jan. 20, however, TSU dropped its last LSC crossover game to Central Oklahoma, 71-54, back on Jan. 11 to see its road record this season fall to 0-4 .

West Texas A&M has put together solid back-to-back efforts during its last two games, as the Buffs defeated Abilene Christian, 78-69, last Saturday to even their LSC record at 1-1 before returning to action on Monday to down New Mexico Highlands, 92-63. During the victory against the Cowboys, the Buffs posted their highest shooting percentage performance of the season, by connecting on 31-of-45 field goal attempts (68.9).

Senior Damien Lolar, despite played a season-low 27 minutes in Monday's landslide win over New Mexico Highlands, continues to impress by leading the LSC in scoring with a 23.9 points per game clip. Last season, Lolar was named LSC Tournament MVP due in large part to his performance in the tournament finale against the Texans, where he scored a then career-high 34 points.

Juniors Tyler Cooper and Kevin "Chip" Green have also been solid on the court of late, contributing 15 and 13 points, respectively. Junior Pierre Barlow, who has become one of the league's most productive and consistent defensive players, was also active on the offensive end with a career-high 12 points against the Cowboys.