Box Score / Season Statistics
 
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Rolling to a four-game winning streak and handing Missouri-St. Louis its first loss of the season Saturday afternoon, the West Texas A&M men's basketball team grabbed a 67-59 win to close out 2014 with two victories in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The Buffs now improve to 7-4 on the year as they have now won seven of their last eight contests while the Tritons fall to 8-1 on the year. WT was led once again by senior guard Tez Dumars who totaled 19 points, shooting 6-for-12 from the floor, while four Buffs finished in double figures.
 
Freshman David Chavlovich added in 15 points for WT in the game while both senior Miles Gatewood and freshman Carl White poured in 11 points each. The Buffs only shot 21-for-61 from the floor (.344), not much of a difference compared to the 18-for-26 (.352) of their opponents.
 
WT began the game strong with a 7-2 run and grabbed an early 11-point lead around the 9-minute mark of the first half. The Tritons would; however, respond with a 13-1 run of their own to grab the one-point lead.
 
The Buffs took a 27-25 lead into the break over the Tritons. WT was led in scoring individually by Dumars who tallied eight points. Gatewood also added six points along with two rebounds, an assist and a steal while freshmen Chavlovich and White tallied five points apiece.
 
WT led by as many as 11 in the opening half, that advantage coming at the 9:02 mark in a first half that only saw four lead changes, with the Triton's being on top only by one. UMSL was unable to score a bucket from the field in the final two and a half minutes of the frame.
 
Both squads shot just under .350 from the field and below .200 from beyond the arc in the opening half. WT held the advantage from the charity stripe, going 4-for-6 (.667) compared to UMSL's 2-for-4 (.500).
 
WT opened up the second half with some hot shooting beyond the arc. A couple of 3-pointers by Chavlovich and Gatewood would help the team take a 39-34 lead over the Tritons into the first media timeout. The Buffs would then build into a 10-2 run heading into the under-12 media, to grab the 46-27 advantage with 11:45 remaining.
 
The Tritons would cut the WT lead back to four, making the score 52-48 as the under-eight media timeout approached. The Buffs could extend that lead to as much as nine in the second half, that advantage coming last at the 4:39 mark in the frame. UMSL would never be able to get back within three for the rest of the game as WT ended with a 67-59 win.
 
Today's meeting was only the second between the two programs. WT now ties the all-time series 1-1.
 
This afternoon's contest was the final game for the Buffs this calendar year. They will return to action at the turn of the New Year with back-to-back contests before opening Lone Star Conference play. WT will first welcome in Mid-America Christian to the First United Bank Center (FUBC) in Canyon, Texas on Friday, Jan. 2. The Buffs will then host Hillsdale Baptist on Saturday, Jan. 3. Both contests are set to tipoff at 6 p.m. Live stats and a free video webstream will be available courtesy of West Texas A&M Athletic Media Relations for both games. Live scoring updates can also be found by following @wtathletics on Twitter.