Box Score

Season Statistics

PLAINVIEW, Texas – Seniors Antjuan Ball, Miles Gatewood, and Tez Dumars each recorded career-highs in points on Tuesday night as the West Texas A&M men's basketball team fell to 0-3 to begin the season with a 99-91 loss down I-27 to nearby Wayland Baptist in Plainview, Texas. With the win, the 16^th ranked NAIA-member Pioneers improve to 4-0 on the season.
 
Dumars recorded a team-high 27 points in the loss on Tuesday night as he shot 8-for-14 from the field and grabbed three 3-pointers off of five attempts. Ball and Gatewood would each add 21 points to the Buffs' total as the team surpassed 80 points as a team for the third-straight contest to start the season.
 
"At times, the focus and the leadership wasn't quite there tonight but I loved the effort that this team gave tonight," noted head coach Tom Brown. "If they keep doing that, they will continue to improve each and every game and help us build that foundation here. We give Wayland a lot of credit and they have a nice squad here. We would love to play them later on in the season. There were alot of times where we had to battle back and we are especially proud of the returners to be able to do that but there were a lot of situations where the ball just didn't bounce our way."

After trading buckets on both team's opening possessions, the Buffs would make their first two buckets with a triple from freshman Carl White and a jumper in the paint by Ball. WT would cap off a game-opening 8-2 run with another 3-pointer by Gatewood to grab an early 8-4 lead at the 17:03 mark.
 
With some early whistles keeping WBU on the line, the Pioneers and Buffs found themselves knotted again around the midway point of the half at 20 apiece.  Ball displayed some improvements in his game from a year ago shooting the ball, sinking his first career 3-pointer as a Buffalo along with a couple of nice mid-range jumpers.
 
WBU grabbed the four-point lead at the 8:21 mark in the half. It was then able to extend the lead to nine on through to just under 6:00 thanks to a 7-0 run making the score 33-24, its biggest lead of the half.
 
The Buffs then grabbed the momentum back and closed out the half on a 19-4 run. Dumars would open, carry, and end that run as he finished the half with 13 points off of 5-for-8 shooting, including 2-for-3 from long range, and five rebounds. He would total 14 of those 19 points during that stretch.
 
Freshman Garrett Brockman also played a big part in WT's late first-half surge as he dominated on the glass, grabbing three key offensive boards for the Buffs. Freshman Rylan Gerber would also serve as a key substitute, hitting both of his 3-point attempts in nine minutes of action. David Chavlovich, the freshman making his third-straight start, tallied six assists in the frame.
 
WT shot a season-high 50% from the field in the first half (15-for-30) and shot 53.8% from deep (7-for-13). Though trailing, the Pioneers would up that percentage from the field to 63.6%, going 14-for-22.
 
The Buffs opened the second frame much in the same fashion as they ended the first. Ball opened up the half with a big slam dunk thanks to another Chavlovich helper. The strong first half run would extend to 24-4 as the Buffs scored the first seven points of the half, ending with another make from beyond the arc by Gatewood.
 
The tide would quickly turn in favor of the home team as the Pioneers stormed to a 16-0 run during which time the Buffs went on a shooting drought from the field spanning 5:41 on the clock. Chavlovich would finally stop the bleeding with a 3-pointer to bring the Buffs back to a 56-55 lead at the 12:39 mark.
 
Finding favor from the charity line once again, WBU was able to stick with the Buffs' offensively down through the next four minutes to pull ahead again by four with 8:48 remaining on the clock. The home team would hold that four-to-six range lead over the course of the next four minutes, before grabbing a bucket to go up by eight, 80-72 with 4:06 remaining, and eventually extending it to 14. The Buffs would be able to shortly cut that lead to five late but the Pioneers held on to end the contest by a score of 99-91.
 
The Buffs still ended the contest shooting 44.6% from the field (29-for-65) compared to 62.5% from the Pioneers (30-for-48). WT would be outrebounded in the contest 39-33, including a 29-18 disadvantage on the defensive end.
 
With the loss, the Buffs drop to 21-2 all-time against the Pioneers. They also begin the year 0-3 for the first time since the 2006-'07 season. However, for the third-consecutive game to begin the season, WT eclipsed the 80-point mark, a feat they only managed to accomplish seven times last season.
 
WT will return to action this Saturday, Nov. 22, as it welcomes in Colorado State-Pueblo to the First United Bank Center (FUBC) for an early season rematch. Tipoff against the ThunderWolves is scheduled for 4 p.m. After dropping their season opener to CSUP, 94-81, last Friday at Massari Arena in the 31^st annual Al Kaly Shriner's Classic, the Buffs are now 12-5 all-time against the ThunderWolves.