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CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M men's basketball team closed out the 2014 WT Pak-A-Sak Thanksgiving Classic with a close 68-63 loss to visiting Emporia State. The loss would be WT's first at home this season, snapping a three-game winning streak and giving them a 3-4 record on the year. The Buffs would be led again by freshman David Chavlovich who scored 14 points in the game and was named to the All-Tournament team. With the win, the Hornets improve to 4-2 on the year after going 2-0 in Canyon during the holiday weekend.
 
The Buffs held the lead for the entire game leading up to just over four minutes left in the game and were unable to close out the contest to earn a fourth-straight win. WT had one final chance down by three with under 10 seconds remaining, hoping for some late magic from beyond the arc like Friday night. However, the Hornets came up with a steal on the inbound and an easy bucket to preserve the 68-63 decision.
 
"We couldn't make enough stops there late and started to come up pretty empty offensively there down the stretch," explained head coach Tom Brown. "We tried and we battled. But we just need to go in a little bit stronger next time. I give a lot of credit to Emporia State. They showed up big defensively and we just played a little flat tonight."
 
Senior Tez Dumars added in 13 points as well for the Buffs. Chavlovich was the lone selection to the All-Tournament team as he averaged 23.5 points in two games, including his career-high 33 in a win over Harding on Friday. Tonight, he would shoot 6-for-13 from the field. Joining him on the All-Tournament team are John Gilliam (Eastern New Mexico), Andraz Kavas (Harding) and Jay Temaat (Emporia State). Taking home MVP honors on the team for ESU was Terrance Moore who scored a game-high 22 points in the Hornets' win over WT. He did so off of 8-for-12 shooting, including 5-for-9 from long range.
 
Four straight points by Dumars would knot the game at 4-4 in the opening minutes. The Buffs would then piece together an 11-2 to run, capped off by a Chavlovich 3-pointer and fast-break layup, over the next three minutes to take the 15-6 lead with 13:30 on the clock.
 
The Hornets would quickly respond with a 9-2 run of their own heading into the second media timeout of the half to pull within two of the Buffs with 10:47 left on the clock. They would cut the lead to one multiple times over remainder of the first half, with the latest being at the 5:51 mark, down 23-22.
 
WT would not allow the visitors to grab the lead once during the first frame as they went on to another 11-2 run to extend the lead to double-digits at 34-24 in the closing seconds. Temaat would pull the Hornets back within a single-digit deficit as he drained a triple from the corner to beat the buzzer.
 
Dumars led all scorers in the opening half with 10 points as he went 4-for-7 from the field to go along with three rebounds and two steals in 14 minutes on the hardwood.  Chavlovich, coming off the bench tonight, would finish the frame with 9 points of his own, also off 4-for-7 shooting from the floor.
 
WT would extend its lead back up to 10 over the first five minutes of the second half, going up 41-31 with 15:31 on the clock, thanks to another bucket from behind the arc by Chavlovich and an open layup by freshman Jeff Bonner.
 
Heading into the second media timeout of the half, the Hornets had cut the WT lead to two before tying the game at 44-44 with 11:21 remaining. WT would quickly respond to retake and hold the lead with a couple of quick buckets.
 
The Buffs were unable to pull away over much of the second half as ESU continually cut the Buffs' lead and climbed back within a point or two. The visitors finally grabbed their first lead of the game with 4:21 remaining to climb up 57-56.
 
Freshman Carl White grabbed big bucket in the ensuing minute, a floater from mid-range while the Hornets started to struggle from the line with about two minutes to go. Senior Miles Gatewood then drew a foul a foul driving through the lane and made both attempts but WT would not be able to regain the lead. The Hornets responded with a late 3-pointer by Jevon Taylor with 37 seconds left and controlled the contest from there to earn the win.
 
"It's definitely hard to come out and play on back-to-back nights and we need to learn how to come out better in those situations," added White. "I think we came out and played pretty well defensively in the second half but like coach said, we were just flat on the offensive end. It may take time but we'll get there and be able pull out those more complete games on both ends."
 
The Buffs finished off the night going 23-for-57 from the field (.404) while the Hornets shot 23-for-45 (.511). The difference for WT would be shooting from beyond the arc as it shot a season-low .158, making just three of its 19 attempts. The Hornets also outscored the Buffs off the bench, 31-16.
 
With the loss, the Buffs now fall to 2-1 in the all-time series with ESU.
 
WT will return to action next Wednesday, Dec. 3, for the fourth of a current six-game homestand against Lubbock Christian. The Buffs are 15-2 all-time against the Chaps. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the FUBC in Canyon, Texas. Live stats and a free video webstream will be available courtesy of West Texas A&M Athletic Media Relations. The game can be heard on the radio on 98.7 Jack FM. Links can be found on www.GoBuffsGo.com via the men's basketball schedule page.