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Plainsmen just come up short against Western Texas 89-83 |
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Tuesday, January 15 2008 |
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By Rusty Berry
Sports Editor
Last night the Frank Phillips Plainsmen tried to get another come from behind victory but fell a little short to Western Texas College 83-89.
From the very start of the game, the tempo was fast paced with both teams running up and down the court. To get things going on the scoreboard, Tyler Fleming of Western Texas would hit two three pointers to get the early 0-6 lead.
Robert Williams would get the Plainsmen on the board but Western Texas would come back and hit another three pointer to help them jump out to a 2-11 lead before the Plainsmen had to call a time-out. The Plainsmen settled down with LeNeal Harris scoring on an old fashioned three point play and Reggie Burnett catching on fire by scoring the next seven points for the Plainsmen to help them climb back to take a 15-13 lead.
For about the next ten minutes of the game the teams would go back and forth on the score board by taking advantage of trips to the free throw line, with the officials calling a tough game by both teams getting several fouls. With about eight minutes to go in the first half, the Plainsmen would take a five point lead, 31-26, with Harris and Williams converting Western Texas turnovers into points.
Western Texas would swing the momentum their way to end the half by getting turnovers and getting hot offensively to take an eight point lead, 40-48, with about a minute to go in the half. The Plainsmen would stop the Western Texas surge with John Claborn getting a good steal that turned into points to cut the deficit to four going into half-time 44-48.
Western Texas would start the second half extending their lead back to six, 44-50, off of free throws. But the Plainsmen would answer back with Williams scoring the next five points and Burnett hitting free throws to give the Plainsmen a one point lead, 51-50, with 17 minutes still left to go. Western Texas would answer back by taking a six point lead again, 51-57, and would keep the Plainsmen trailing by three or four points throughout the rest of the game.
Williams and Burnett would try to put the team on their back by both playing strong offensively. But each time the Plainsmen would get things going, Western Texas seemed to be able to answer back.
The final thirty seconds, with the Plainsmen down by three, 82-85, the team looked to catch a break with a call that looked as if it would of gone against Western Texas to send the Plainsmen to the free throw line. But instead the call was an offensive foul, which sent Western Texas to the line to seal the game.
The Plainsmen drop to 2-3 in conference play and will travel next Monday to take on NMMI.
Stat leaders for the Plainsmen were:Burnett with 31 points, 10 rebounds and two steals; Williams with 22 points and four rebounds; and Harris with 17 points and four rebounds. The Plainsmen were 29 of 36 from the free throw line.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, January 16 2008 )
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