Men's Basketball 11/21/2012 12:14:00 AM

Clark’s Buzzer Beater Lifts Men’s Basketball

Box Score PORTALES, N.M. (November 20, 2011) – Playing in only his second game of the season, junior Jordan Clark nailed a 15-foot jumper as time expired giving the TAMIU men’s basketball team a 68-67 win over Eastern New Mexico University Tuesday night at Greyhound Arena in Portales, New Mexico.

The hard fought game featured eight ties and 16 lead changes. Trailing by four points late, junior Johnel Gray buried a big three pointer followed by a free throw from Jordan Clark to even the game at 59. The Greyhounds’ Rafael Love connected on a three-pointer with 2:51 left to play to give Eastern a three-point lead, before Jayvin Reynolds brought the margin back to one with a layup at the 45 second mark. Domingo Lawrence extended the lead back to three for the Greyhounds with 24 tics left, but once again Reynolds answered with 11 seconds left to pull the Dustdevils within one at 67-66.

With only five seconds remaining, Felipe Vezaro stole the ensuing inbounds pass, only to be called for a traveling violation. TAMIU was then forced to foul sending Love to the free throw line. Love missed the one-and-one attempt and the rebound was brought down by Kevin Jefferson. Jefferson raced down the court and found Clark wide open for the 15-foot game winner as the final buzzer sounded.

“Tonight was a total team effort,” said Head coach Bryan Weakley, “we did not shoot the ball well tonight. It says something positive about a group of guys that can defend and find a way to win when the shots aren’t falling. Danny, Louis, and Kevin shut down their point guard in the second half and that was a huge reason we got the win.”

Clark finished the game with 10 points, seven boards, and two steals shooting 4-9 from the field. Junior Matthew Culliver was the high point man for the \Dustdevils recording 17 points going 6-15 from the field and more importantly, 5-9 from beyond the arc. Johnel Gray and Felipe Vezaro also scored in double-digits adding 13 and 10 points respectively.

Eastern New Mexico was led by Rodney Blackmon who turned in another strong performance against the Dustdevils, with 20 points and four assists. Love finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Lawrence Domingo finished with 16 points.

TAMIU shot only 39 percent from the field, but finished 12-26 from three-point range and knocked down 4-8 free throw attempts. The Dustdevils out-rebounded the Greyhounds 36-30 and held an 11-4 advantage in second chance points.

TAMIU improves to 3-1 on the season with the win, as the Dustdevils prepare for their Heartland Conference opener. The team doesn’t return to the court until December 1, when they travel to San Antonio to battle I-35 rival St. Mary’s University at Bill Greehey Arena.

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