QUICK HITS
- West Texas A&M started the game on an 11-2 run highlighted by three long balls
- The Buffs went on a 2:58 scoring drought in the first half (5:41 – 2:43)
- WT went on a 13-4 run to end the first period and take a 39-30 lead into the half
- The Buffs started gave up the first basket of the second half before going on a 15-0 run
- WT is 3-1 all-time against Emporia State including 1-1 against the Hornets in Canyon
 
LEADING THE WAY (Statistical Leaders)
Points – David Chavlovich (WT, 18 Points), Brandon Hall (ESU, 18 Points)
Rebounds – Jeff Bonner (WT, 7 Rebounds), Micah Swank (ESU, 6 Rebounds), Eric Golightly Jr. (WT, 6 Rebounds), Jordan Evans (WT, 6 Rebounds)
Assists – David Chavlovich (WT, 6 Assists), Eric Golightly Jr. (WT, 5 Assists), Rylan Gerber (WT, 4 Assists), Micah Swank (ESU, 3 Assists), Jay Temaat (ESU, 3 Assist)
Blocks – Ryan Quaid (WT, 1 Block), Jay Temaat (ESU, 1 Block)
Steals – Jeff Bonner (WT, 3 Steals), Charles McKinney (ESU, 3 Steals)
 
CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M Buffaloes picked up their fourth straight victory on Saturday night as they used a 15-0 run early in the second half and 18 points by David Chavlovich to rout the Hornets of Emporia State, 84-68 during the 2015 Pak-A-Sak WT Thanksgiving Classic at the First United Bank Center in Canyon. The Buffs move to 5-2 overall on the season while the Hornets fall to 2-3.
 
The teams traded misses to start the game before Rylan Gerber started off the scoring with a three from the corner followed by a Hornets turnover that led to a David Chavlovich contested three for the early 6-0 lead, ESU got their first two point of the night at the free throw line before Chavlovich answered with a layup off of an inbound play. ESU turned the ball over again as Jordan Evans knocked down a three from the corner heading into an Emporia timeout with 16:41 left and WT leading 11-1, the Hornets hit one-of-two from the line after the timeout followed by a WT turnover before ESU gave the ball right back to head into the first media timeout of the half with the Buffs leading 11-2 with 15:58 left.
 
Jeff Bonner didn't wait long to get his first points of the game as the senior registered a three point play right after the break followed by a Brandon Hall jumper in the paint followed by the teams trading fouls before an Eric Golightly Jr. runner, Emporia answered with a layup followed by a WT offensive foul but ESU couldn't cut into the lead as the teams traded misses again before a Hall fade-away jumper to make it 16-10. The Hornets couldn't convert a steal-and-score opportunity but the Buffs missed from deep on the transition bucket heading into a media timeout with the Buffs leading 16-10 with 11:35 left.
 
The Hornets knocked down a pair from the free throw line after the break before Golightly Jr. drove the lane and finished with a three point play followed by an ESU offensive foul that led to a Bonner free throw to extend the WT lead to 20-12, Emporia hit two from the line followed by a WT miss but Bonner stole away the ball and Gerber hit two from the charity stripe before Micah Swank drove the lane and finished with the layup off the glass. Golightly Jr. answered with a layup of his own followed by an ESU miss but WT gave the ball back with a turnover and the Hornets hit one-of-two from the line. WT turned the ball over again but Bonner grabbed a big defensive board before a WT miss that led to an ESU fast break layup, the teams traded misses as a jump-ball sent the teams into the under-eight minute media timeout with WT leading 24-19 with 6:37 left.
 
Emporia missed on a long attempt right after the break as Ryan Quaid came up with the defensive rebound followed by a pair of free throws by the freshman to extend the lead to 26-19 before ESU answered with a three from the top of the key by Josh Pedersen, WT gave the ball back with an offensive foul followed by a Hornets jumper in the lane and a WT turnover before Bonner forced a jump ball to give possession back to the Buffs but WT turned the ball over again with 4:25 left. Jay Temaat knocked down a jumper as the shot clock winded down followed by another WT turnover but ESU missed on their end of the court but the Buffs committed an offensive foul to head into the last media timeout of the half with the teams tied at 26-26 with 3:07 left.
 
The Hornets knocked down a pair from the free throw line after the timeout before WT ended a scoring drought with a Tommy Gove offensive rebound and jumper followed immediately by a Garrett Brockman steal and score to give WT the 30-28 lead, ESU hit two free throws before an Evans three from the wing followed by a Quaid block that led to a three point play by the freshman with 1:24 left. The Hornets gave the ball right back with an offensive foul but WT couldn't convert as they missed with the shot clock dwindling, ESU turned the ball back over to WT to give the Buffs the last shot of the half as Gerber hit one from from long range at the top of the key to take a 39-30 lead into the locker room.
 
The Buffs went 13-of-23 (56.5%) from the floor in the opening half including 5-of-9 (55.6%) from long range and 8-of-9 (88.9%) from the free throw line to go along with 14 rebounds (three offensive, 11 defensive), 14 fouls, seven assists, 13 turnovers, one block and four steals. Gerber went 2-of-4 from the floor including 2-of-3 from behind the arc in the first half to lead WT with eight points at the break followed by Golightly Jr, with seven and Evans with six.
 
Emporia State went 8-of-18 (44.4%) from the floor including 1-of-6 (16.7%) from deep and 13-of-17 (76.5%) from the free throw line in the first half to go along with nine rebounds (one offensive, eight defensive), 13 fouls, three assists, 10 turnovers, one block and six steals. Pedersen went 1-of-2 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the free throw line to lead all scorers with nine points at the break followed by Charles McKinney with seven and Hall with six.
 
The Hornets hit a long jumper from the wing to start the second half before the teams traded misses and Chavovich drove the lane and finished with a layup, ESU turned the ball over and Gerber hit his third long ball of the game to runt the lead to 44-32 followed by a Golightly Jr. steal and Gerber layup to force an ESU timeout with the Buffs leading 46-32 with 17:25 left. Evans grabbed a defensive board after the break followed by a Golightly Jr. three from the corner followed by an ESU miss and an Evans long ball to run the lead to 52-32, Emporia turned the ball over followed by a Bonner post move for the layup to head into the first media timeout of the half with WT leading 54-32 with 15:48 left.
 
The teams traded buckets after the timeout as Emporia cut the lead to 56-38 with a jumper followed by a WT offensive foul but ESU missed as Chavlovich grabbed a defensive rebound that led to Bonner hitting one-of-two from the line, the Hornets scored inside but Chavlovich answered with a three from the wing to push the lead back to 20. ESU finished with a layup and the Hornets fouled to stop the WT transition followed by an ESU foul on a shot to send the teams into the under-12 minute media timeout with the Buffs leading 60-42 with 11:50 left.
 
Evans knocked down a pair from the charity stripe after the break followed by a Hornets layup and a WT offensive foul with 10:59 left, WT was called for a technical foul but the Hornets hit just one-of-two and regained possession before a miss that led to an Evans three from the top of the key. ESU answered with a three of their own followed by a Gerber layup and a Hornets turnover before a WT miss and Gove diving on the floor for a loose ball to give WT the possession arrow heading into a timeout with the Buffs holding the 67-48 lead with 8:41 left. The teams traded misses after the timeout before a Hornet steal-and-slam sent the teams into a media timeout with WT leading 67-50 with 6:37 left.
 
The teams traded misses after the timeout before Chavlovich nailed a three from the wing before the Hornets answered with a long ball of their own with 5:41 left, the team traded misses again before an ESU transition layup cut the lead to 70-55 followed by a WT turnover to head into the final media timeout of the half with 3:53 left. ESU knocked down a three from the wing after the break followed by a Chavlovich answer from the top of the key with 3:02 left, Hall drove the lane and finished with a layup before a Bonner dunk ran the lead back to 15 points. Emporia hit two from the line before Chavlovich drew a foul on a three point attempt as the sophomore hit two-of-three with 1:50 left, ESU registered a layup and called a timeout with 1:31 on the clock with WT leading 1:31.
 
The Buffs broke the full-court press as the Hornets decided to start fouling as Golightly Jr. missed from the line in the single bonus before a Gove defensive rebound, the sophomore went to the line and hit both followed by an Evans rebound and Golightly Jr. fast break layup. Hall knocked down a fade-away jumper and WT called a timeout to make substitutions before Antonio Ferreira hit a three as the shot clock expired before a Hall layup to end the game, 84-68.
 
The Buffs went 28-of-45 (62.2%) from the floor including 13-of-21 (61.9%) from deep and 15-of-20 (75%) from the charity stripe to go along with 28 rebounds (four offensive, 24 defensive), 22 fouls, 22 assists, 19 turnovers, one block and nine steals on the night. Chavlovich went 6-of-10 from the floor including 4-of-6 from deep as he tied a game high with 18 points while Evans (16), Gerber (15) and Golightly Jr. (12) all registered double-digit points for the Buffs.
 
Emporia State went 23-of-51 (45.1%) from the field including just 4-of-20 (20%) from long range nad 18-of-24 (75%) from the free throw line to go along with 24 rebounds (seven offensive, 17 defensive), 23 fouls, eight assists, 15 turnovers, one block and eight steals in the game. The Hornets were led by Hall with 18 points as he went 9-of-13 from the floor followed by Pedersen (15), McKinney (13) and Temaat (12) with double-digit points.
 
NEXT TIME OUT
The Buffs will hit the road on Tuesday night as they make the short trip to Goodwell, Oklahoma to take on the Aggies of Oklahoma Panhandle State with tipoff set for 7 p.m. at Oscar Williams Fieldhouse. The Aggies enter the week with an overall record of 3-0 with wins over Western New Mexico (twice) and Barclay College.