QUICK HITS
- West Texas A&M started out the game on an 8-0 run on four Jeff Bonner layups
- The Aggies went 12-of-15 (80%) from the charity stripe in the first half
- The Buffs led by as much as 11 points in the opening half and never trailed in the period
- WT went 12-of-29 from long range in the game to shoot 41.4% from behind the arc
- Chavlovich made eight long balls to tie a career high and rank tied for 5^th in the WT record book for a single-game performance
- WT is 59-5 all-time against the Aggies with the Buffs claiming the last eight meetings
 
LEADING THE WAY (Statistical Leaders)
Points – David Chavlovich (WT, 31 Points), Zoran Arsenovic (OPSU, 22 Points)
Rebounds – Antonio Manns Jr. (OPSU, 11 Rebounds), Jordan Evans (WT, 10 Rebounds)
Assists – David Chavlovich (WT, 9 Assists), Marquavius Williams (OPSU, 5 Assists)
Blocks – Eric Golightly Jr. (WT, 2 Blocks), Marquavius Williams (OPSU, 1 Block), Zoran Arsenovic (OPSU, 1 Block)
Steals – Jared Straight (OPSU, 3 Steals), David Chavlovich (WT, 2 Steals), Marquavius Williams (OPSU, 2 Steals), Dedrick Shannon Jr. (OPSU, 2 Steals), Melvin Mitchell (OPSU, 2 Steals)
 
GOODWELL, Oklahoma – The West Texas A&M Buffaloes picked up their fifth straight victory on Tuesday night as they withstood a late second half run by the Aggies of Oklahoma Panhandle State, 87-77 at Oscar Williams Fieldhouse in front of 200 fans. The Buffs improve to 6-2 on the season while the Aggies drop their first game of the season to fall to 3-1 overall.
 
The Buffs started off the game hot as they scored 11 of the first 13 points of the contest with eight coming from Jeff Bonner followed by a three at the top of the key by Jordan Evans, the Aggies responded with a pair of free throws before defending LSC Offensive Player of the Week David Chavlovich drained a transition three before an OPSU three point play and a WT miss that led to two more Aggies free throws to head into the first media timeout of the game as WT led 14-9 with 15:41 left.
 
OPSU hit two more at the line after the break followed by a Ryan Quaid fast break layup before the Aggies answered with a bucket of their own, the Buffs misses on their next possession followed by another OPSU layup before Quaid hit one-of-two from the line. The Aggies turned the ball over before Evans registered a layup followed by misses on both ends another Aggies turnover, WT missed from long range before another OPSU turnover as Quaid slammed home a dunk on the baseline to run the lead to 21-15. The Aggies stopped their drought with a jumper followed by misses on both ends of the court before OPSU turned the ball over heading into another media timeout with 11:10 left.
 
The teams traded turnovers after the break followed by misses before Chavlovich knocked down one-of-two at the charity stripe to run the lead to 22-17 before OPSU answered with a three from the wing by Antonio Manns Jr., WT responded as Tommy Gove hit from deep in the corner before the Aggies registered a layup to cut the lead to 25-22. WT missed from long range before a WT foul under the basket sent the teams into the under-eight minute media timeout with 7:53 remaining.
 
The Aggies missed from long range but WT gave the ball right back with a fast break turnover but OPSU would give the ball right back with a travel, WT gave it back as OPSU tied the game with a three from the wing followed by a Chavlovich answer from the corner to give WT the 28-25 lead. Gerber grabbed a big defensive board but WT couldn't connect from deep but OPSU missed that led to a Chavlovich three from the top of the key to force an Aggies timeout with WT leading 31-25 with 5:27 left. OPSU missed their first free throw of the game after the break as they went just one-of-two from the line followed by an Eric Golightly Jr. floater in the lane followed by a WT foul as the Aggies hit two, Evans grabbed an offensive board and putback followed by an OPSU miss that led to another Chavlovich three before another Aggies miss and foul to send the teams into another media timeout with WT leading 38-28 with 3:50 left.
 
OPSU hit one-of-two from the line after the break followed by a Golightly Jr. fast break layup and Aggies long ball from the wing to cut the lead to 40-32, the Buffs gave the ball right back with a charge that led to an OPSU layup followed by a WT miss from deep and a Gerber foul to head into an OPSU timeout with WT leading 40-35 with 1:10 left. Golightly Jr. grabbed a defensive board followed by the junior hitting one-of-two from the free throw line before the teams traded misses before Chavlovich knocked down a jumper followed by an OPSU offensive foul. The teams traded misses before a WT turnover gave the Aggies the last possession of the half but they couldn't find the bottom of the net as WT took the 43-35 lead into the locker room.
 
The Buffs shot 50% (17-of-34) from the floor in the first half including 37.5% (6-of-16) from long range and 42.9% (3-of-7) from the charity stripe to go along with 24 total rebounds (six offensive, 18 defensive), nine assists, 11 fouls, nine turnovers, three blocks and just two steals. Chavlovich went 5-of-9 from the floor including 4-of-7 from deep to lead the Buffs with 15 points at the half followed by Bonner with eight points and Evans with seven.
 
OPSU went 10-of-37 (27%) from the floor including 3-of-10 (30%) from behind the arc and 12-of-15 (80%) from the free throw line to go along with 21 rebounds (nine offensive, 12 defensive), nine fouls, four assists, eight turnovers, one block and six steals. The Aggies were led at the half by Zoran Arsenovic who went 5-of-9 from the floor including 4-of-5 from the line to match a game high with 15 points followed by Manns Jr. with 11.
 
The teams traded turnovers as OPSU registered a steal-and-score followed by a WT miss and an OPSU layup to cut the lead to 43-39 before Evans responded with a three from the wing, Golightly Jr. grabbed a defensive board that led to a Quaid bucket followed by an OPSU miss from deep and a Chavlovich long ball from the corner off of an inbound play to give WT their largest lead of the game at 51-39. The Aggies registered another steal-and-score before Golightly Jr. hit one-of-two from the line followed by a Gerber defensive board and an Evans layup to send the teams into an OPSU timeout as the Buffs led 54-41 with 15:39 left.
 
The Aggies committed an offensive foul to head into the first media timeout of the half but WT gave the ball right back with an errant pass after the break before misses on both ends and a Manns Jr. three point play to cut the lead to 54-44, the Buffs missed from long range that led to an OPSU three from the wing before WT responded with Quaid hitting two from the line. OPSU cut into the lead again as they used a three point play on a Melvin Mitchell slam and free throw followed by a WT miss but Quaid grabbed a defensive board followed by a Bonner layup to run the lead to 58-50 heading into a media timeout with 11:44 left.
 
Gove knocked down a three right after the break but the Aggies answered with one of their own followed by an Evans spin-move in the paint for a layup, OPSU hit two from the charity stripe followed by a Chavlovich steal and long ball from the wing to run his game total to 21 points before the Aggies answered with a three of their own. OPSU gave the ball right back with an offensive foul as Quaid hit one-of-two from the line followed by a Golightly Jr. defensive board and two more Quaid free throws, the Aggies missed two from the line followed by an OPSU foul as Chavlovich hit two followed by a WT foul as the Aggies missed the front-end of a one-and-one as Quaid grabbed a rebound but WT gave the ball right back with a charge. The Buffs got the ball back with a Quaid steal but a WT miss led to an Aggies layup followed by another WT turnover and OPSU layup to cut the lead to 70-62, WT missed a jumper that led to another Aggies layup followed by an OPSU foul to send the teams into the under-eight minute media timeout with WT leading 70-64 with 5:39 left.
 
Bonner hit one-of-two from the line after the break followed by a Mitchell jumper to cut the lead to five (71-65) to head into a WT timeout with 4:54 to play, the Buffs continued their cold streak from the floor with a miss before a Golightly Jr. steal that led to Chavlovich hitting one-of-two from the line to make it 72-66. The Aggies hit a three from the corner as the Oscar Williams Fieldhouse crowd erupted followed by a WT miss but the Buffs held possession with an offensive rebound heading into the final media timeout of the half with 3:54 remaining.
 
Chavlovich went to the line and hit one-of-two but Quaid grabbed a big offensive board that led to a Bonner layup to run the lead to 75-69 followed by a WT foul as the Aggies hit two of their own from the charity stripe, Gove found Chavlovich in the corner for a fade-away three followed by a big steal from Golightly Jr, that led to another Chavlovich long ball to run the WT lead to 81-71 with 2:21 left. OPSU went one-of-two from the line before Quaid silenced the Goodwell crowd with a monster slam followed by an OPSU air-ball from long range with 1:19 left, the Aggies stole the ball back and went to the line as Quaid fouled out of the game as OPSU hit both followed by an Aggie foul that sent Gove to the line. The sophomore hit one-of-two from the charity stripe before OPSU answered with a transition three and a WT turnover, Evans hit one from the line followed by an OPSU miss that led to an Evans offensive board and foul as the Houston native hit two with seven seconds left to give WT the 87-77.
 
The Buffs went 29-of-60 (48.3%) from the floor including 12-of-29 (41.4%) from long range and 17-of-29 (58.6%) from the charity stripe to go along with 41 rebounds (11 offensive, 20 defensive), 19 assists, 23 fouls, 16 turnovers, four blocks and seven steals on the night. Chavlovich went 9-of-17 from the floor including 8-of-13 from long range to score a game high 31 points while Evans registered a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Bonner and Quaid registered 13 points while Golightly Jr. grabbed nine rebounds to go along with four assists.
 
OPSU went 24-of-64 (37.5%) from the field in the game including 8-of-21 (38.1%) from deep and 21-of-28 (75%) from the free throw line to go along with 33 total rebounds (11 offensive, 22 defensive), 25 fouls, 13 assists, 15 turnovers, three blocks and 11 steals on the night. Arsenovic went 7-of-12 from the floor including 6-of-7 from the free throw line to lead the Aggies with 22 points followed by Manns Jr. with 18 and Mitchell with 13.
 
NEXT TIME OUT
The Buffs remain on the road on Thursday night as they head down Interstate 27 to Lubbock, Texas to take on the Chaps of Lubbock Christian with tipoff set for 8 p.m. at the Rip Griffin Center. WT will look to avenge an earlier loss to the Chaps (64-74) back on November 19^th as the Buffs shot just 33.9% from the floor and allowed 54 points in the paint by LCU in WT's home opener.