Box Score / Season Statistics

Tournament Central
 
PUEBLO, Colo. – Double overtime at Massari Arena in Pueblo, Colo. would prove to be too much for the young West Texas A&M men's basketball team as it fell to Western State Colorado University 97-88 on Saturday afternoon. WT was led by senior Antjuan Ball who was named to the 31^st annual Al Kaly Classic All-Tournament team after recording a double-double with 20 points and 18 rebounds. With the loss the Buffs fall to 0-2 on the season while the Mountaineers improve to 1-1.
 
Ball would send the game into overtime with a tip-in with five seconds remaining in regulation and would lead the charge in the first overtime period. He went 10-of-22 from the field and picked up 11 of his 18 boards on the offensive end, a new career-high. He was the lone selection from the Buffs to make the All-Tournament team. He did so after scoring a team-high 18 points in yesterday's loss to CSU-Pueblo as well.
 
Both squads shot similar from field, the Buffs going 34-of-84 (40.5%) and the Mountaineers shooting 27-of-67 (40.3%). Again, the Buffs would struggle from the free-throw line, shooting 68.4%, as late misses plagued WT, compared to 79.5% from the opponents.
 
All five of WT's starters scored in double-figures as freshman David Chavlovich picked up 17, freshman Carl White 14, and seniors Tez Dumars and Miles Gatewood tallied 18 and 15 respectively.
 
The Buffs jumped to an early 7-0 lead on Saturday. Ball would get a quick layup on the second possession before Gatewood added the next five points, carrying over his hot shooting from beyond the arc, converting on his first attempt to force an early timeout on the WSCU bench with 16:51 on the clock. A Chavlovich triple on the next timeout would complete the opening 10-2 run for the Buffs.
 
Play slowed down around the midway point of the first half with both teams trading sloppy turnovers in the paint, allowing the Mountaineers to slowly climb back with a 7-0 streak. Dumars broke the run as he drew the and-one on a layup leading into the first half media timeout. Buffs took the 13-9 lead into the stoppage with just under 10 minutes remaining. By that point in the half, WT's defense would frustrate the opponent, forcing seven turnovers in that period.
 
Both teams traded buckets over the ensuing seven minutes. Each reached the bonus, as Gatewood jumped stepped between two defenders grabbing a big basket and drawing a foul, extending the WT lead back to 20-16 with the free throw and 4:38 left in the half. The following play Gatewood found himself on the helping end, sending a past to Ball along the baseline to throw down the dunk behind two Mountaineers.
 
Gatewood, along with WSCU's CJ Schutt led all scorers at the break with 10 points apiece. Gatewood would do so on 3-of-9 shooting, including converting on all three free throw attempts. Ball would also have a strong half, going 4-of-7 from the floor for eight points while grabbing eight boards.
 
The Buffs went 12-of-32 (37.5%) from the field in the first 20 minutes, compared to 8-of-28 (28.6%) for the Mountaineers. WSCU found favor at the free-throw line, getting 16 attempts from the whistle but would net just 11 of those opportunities.
 
WSCU extended its run to 12-2 across both halves with some sharp shooting to open up the second frame, capped off by a deep triple by Jalen Thompson to give the Mountaineers their first lead of the game, 35-34, with 17:43 remaining.
 
The lead would teeter back-and-forth over the opening of the second half with WSCU grabbing multiple fast-break layups but hot shooting from beyond the arc would keep the Buffs in the game as White would sink back-to-back attempts followed by a triple from Chavlovich.
 
The Mountaineers would remain with the lead that they could never extend past six over the ensuing 10 minutes of play while the Buffs would keep cutting it to one but could not grab the leading basket going into a 57-53 deficit with 6:00 on the clock.
 
Chavlovich then put together three huge plays for the Buffs. He sank back-to-back 3-pointers on the offensive end surrounding a steal on the floor on the defensive side, calling a timeout to avoid the jump ball. That gave WT the lead back for the first time since the beginning of the second half which was extended with a fast-break layup, giving the Buffs the 61-57 advantage at the 4:36 mark.
 
A few late fouls would allow WSCU to knot the score at 66-66 under two. Then Ball would grab two buckets in the final 60 seconds, including a tip-in with five seconds left in regulation to send the game into extra time with a 70-70 score.
 
The Buffs nearly put the game away in the first overtime period as Ball helped extend the lead to three after a big rejection on the defensive end. Danny Hopkins would drain a 3-pointer; however, with four seconds left to send the game into another overtime period.
 
Hopkins would carry the Mountaineers in the second extra period with another triple and fast-break layup, giving WSCU a seven-point advantage with 2:00 remaining. WT would not be able to chip in to that lead as they eventually fell by a score of 97-88. With the loss, the Buffs fall to 3-1 all-time against WSCU.
 
WT will be back in action on Tuesday evening, Nov. 18, as it finishes off a three-game season-opening road trip with a matchup against the Pioneers of Wayland Baptist. Tipoff from Plainview, Texas is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Buffs are 21-1 all-time against the Pioneers. Links for live coverage can be found on www.GoBuffsGo.com via the men's basketball schedule page. Live scoring updates can also be found by following @wtathletics on Twitter.