Jan. 31, 2007

West Texas A&M Men's Basketball Notes in PDF Format
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CANYON, Texas - After defeating Lone Star Conference South Division leader Eastern New Mexico on Monday night, the Buffs find themselves in a familiar position, in the thick of the race for the LSC Championship. The chase continues on Thursday as the Buffs conclude a three-game road trip with an important league match-up against the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas. Tip-off from TAMU-Kingsville's Steinke Center is slated for 8 p.m.

The Buffs (11-8, 3-2 LSC South) enter the contest having won four of their last five affairs, while the Javelinas snapped a three-game losing skid with a 85-74 victory over ACU during their last outing. Texas A&M-Kingsville enters Thursday's meeting with a 14-4 overall mark and sits in fifth place in the league standings with a 1-2 LSC South record.

Individually for WTAMU, junior teammates and Amarillo High products Tyler Cooper and Chris Hinz have been pivotal factors during the Buffs' recent run of success. Cooper is coming off his first career double-double (10 points, 11 rebouds) during the team's last outing against ENMU and is currently second on the team with an average of 6.8 rebounds per contest during conference play. Hinz, has been a force on the low block for the Buffs, shooting just under 70 percent from the floor for the season. The junior has also stepped up his game of late, scoring a career-high 24 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting night against EMNU to raise his scoring total during league play to 15.2 points per game.

With 32 points against the Greyhounds on Monday, senior Damien Lolar maintained his hold on the LSC scoring lead, increasing his impressive point per game average to 24.6, a figure that includes a 26.8 clip during league play. The Arkansas City, Kan., native has also been a force on the boards, pacing the Buffs on the year and ranking among the conference leaders with a 9.3 rebounds per game average. Lolar enters Thursday's contest needing only nine points to give him 1,000 for his WTAMU career.

The Buffs will be fighting the recent history of the series on Thursday night as WTAMU has dropped its last six contests against the Javelinas in Kingsville. Despite the recent pack of success in South Texas, the Buffs still lead the all-time series with TAMU-Kingsville by the count of 30-19.