March 5, 2008

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CANYON, Texas - After winning 13 of its last 14 games to close the regular season as Lone Star Conference South Division Champions and one of the hottest teams in the country, the West Texas A&M men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought contest to Texas A&M-Commerce, 69-63, during the quarterfinal round of the LSC Championships at Bruin Field House.

The Buffs (21-7), who entered the field as the No. 1 seed in the LSC South, are eliminated from the tournament field, while Texas A&M-Commerce (13-15), the fourth seed from the LSC North, advances to face Abilene Christian, who won in double overtime on Wednesday in Friday's tournament opener.

A day after being named Lone Star Conference South Division Player of the Year, senior guard Robert Lee notched the first points of the ball game, making a mid-range jumper at the 18:57 mark. Lee, who finished the contest with a game-high 24 points, was 8-of-16 shooting from the floor and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line.

WT as a team was impressive from the charity stripe as they made 16-of-17 chances, but struggled behind the three-point arc, where they made just 3-of-20 opportunities.

The Lions scored five straight points after the initial basket to take a 5-2 lead, but the Buffs' Keon Grant put WT back on top as he stole a Commerce inbounds pass and made the ensuring lay-up to put the Buffs up 7-5 with 17:38 to play. The basket was a part of a 7-0 WT run that left them with a 9-5 lead heading into the first media timeout at the 15:56 mark of the first half.

Texas A&M-Commerce recovered to cut the lead to a single basket at 11-9, but the Buffs responded with a 10-2 run that forced a timeout by Commerce head coach Sam Walker at the 9:27 mark after his team fell behind 21-11. The run started with good ball movement from the Buffs as Tyler Cooper found fellow senior Chris Hinz on the low block for a lay-up. Pierre Barlow stretched the lead to seven, 16-9, with an old-fashion three-point play at the 12:22 point of the period as he penetrated and made a lay-up while also drawing a foul.

An acrobatic reverse lay-up by Lee, who contributed 12 points during the opening period, stretched the lead to 25-13 with 8:25 to play.

Keon Grant made the score 34-19 with 3:17 remaining in the half by draining the Buffs' lone three-point field goal of the half. The score gave the Buffs their biggest lead of game at 15 points, but the sizable advantage would not last long as the Lions countered in a big way.

Texas A&M-Commerce took advantage of some sloppy Buff ball handling and ended the half on a 15-2 run that was punctuated by a three-pointer from Scooby Johnson with eight seconds to play. The spurt sent the Lions to the locker room with the momentum but not the lead as they still trailed at intermission, 36-34.

The Lions tied the game at 36-36 on their second possession of the second half and took their first lead since 18:14 mark of the opening half on their next trip down the court as Derrick Darkis converted a short jumper.

After TAMU-Commerce had taken a 40-38 lead, it was Cooper who put the Buffs back on top as he drained a three-pointer with 16:10 on the clock to put the Buffs up 41-40.

Johnson put the Lions back ahead, 44-43, as he got loose beneath the WT basket and converted a lay-up at the 14:21 mark of the second half. The basket came in the mist of an 8-0 run by the Lions which left them in front, 48-43, with 11:50 to play.

The Buffs recovered to claim eight of the next 10 points to regain the lead, 51-50, on a jumper by Barlow, but a three-pointer from Johnson at the 8:11 mark put Commerce back in front for good.

A three-pointer by Lee with 3:28 to play cut the Commerce lead to 61-59, but Lee would foul out with about two minutes to play.

Barlow, who ended play with 11 points, pulled the Buffs within one basket as he made a driving lay-up with 47 seconds left in the game following an excellent defensive play from Keon Grant, who drew a charge at the other end. The Buffs were unable to recover a defensive rebound on the ensuing Lion possession and with the shot clock off, were forced to foul.

Kevin Widemond made a pair of free throws and a lay-up by Commerce made it final at 69-63.

The Buffs, who climbed to the top of the NCAA-II South Central Regional Rankings which were announced on Wednesday, will have to wait until Sunday to find out their postseason destination. The brackets will be announced at 9:30 p.m. on www.ncaasports.com.