QUICK HITS- Humacao went on an 8:20 scoring drought in the first half to lead to a 12-0 run by the Buffs
- The teams combined to shoot just 20% (5-of-25) from behind the arc in the first half
- The Owls scored 10 of the first 12 points of the second half to cut WT's lead to 33-26
- The Buffs put the game away in the heart of the second half as they hit 9-of-11 shots in a stretch
LEADING THE WAY (Statistical Leaders)Points –
David Chavlovich (WT, 20 Points),
Joseph Prince (WT, 10 Points),
Ryan Quaid (WT, 10 Points),
Jordan Evans (WT, 9 Points), Eric Golightly Jr, (WT, 7 Points), Giono Gomez (UPRH, 7 Points), Pedro Opio (UPRH, 7 Points), Luis Cintrom (UPRH, 7 Points)
Rebounds –
Jeff Bonner (WT, 8 Rebounds),
Ryan Quaid (WT, 7 Rebounds),
Eric Golightly Jr. (WT, 6 Rebounds), Lugi Huertas (UPRH, 6 Rebounds), Eddie Urbaez (UPRH, 6 Rebounds), Pedro Opio (UPRH, 6 Rebounds)
Assists –
David Chavlovich (WT, 4 Assists),
Rylan Gerber (WT, 2 Assists),
Tommy Gove (WT, 2 Assists),
Joseph Prince (WT, 2 Assists), Samuel Torres (UPRH, 2 Assists)
Blocks –
Jeff Bonner (WT, 1 Block),
Ryan Quaid (WT, 1 Block), Adrian Cotto (UPRH, 1 Block), Teddy Rijos (UPRH, 1 Block)
Steals –
Jeff Bonner (WT, 2 Steals),
Garrett Brockman (WT, 2 Steals), Pedro Opio (UPRH, 2 Steals), Eddie Urbaez (UPRH, 2 Steals), Steven Pagan (UPRH, 2 Steals)
BAYAMON, Puerto Rico – The West Texas A&M Buffaloes ended their Puerto Rico road trip on a high-note on Friday afternoon as they took a 15 point lead into the locker room and never looked back as they registered a 74-51 victory over Puerto Rico-Humacao on the campus of UPR-Bayamon. The Buffs claim their second straight victory as they move to 10-4 overall while the Owls' record in unknown.
Jordan Evans started off the scoring just 16 seconds into the contest with a layup before Humacao answered with one of their own followed by an Owls miss that led to an
Eric Golightly Jr. long ball to make it 5-2, the teams traded misses before a
Jeff Bonner layup extended the WT lead before the teams traded misses before
Rylan Gerber found
David Chavlovich for a long ball with 15:03 on the clock to force a Humacao timeout with WT leading 10-2. The teams went on a scoring drought after the break before Golightly Jr. hit two from the free throw line to extend the WT run to 10-0 followed by a
Garrett Brockman layup at 14-2, the Owls finally ended their 8:20 scoring drought with a jumper before Chavlovich knocked down a long ball followed by a Humacao layup before a Chavlovich bucket to run the lead to 19-6.
Humacao cut into the lead with a jumper before
Ryan Quaid found Bonner under the basket for an easy lay-in followed a few possessions later by a Quaid bucket to run the score to 23-8 followed by a
Joseph Prince jumper to force a Hucamao timeout with 4:59 remaining in the first half. The Owls hit their first long ball of the game after the break before misses on both ends before Golightly Jr. hit two freebies at 27-11, Humaco hit two free throws followed by a WT turnover that led to an Owls layup at 27-15 before Chavlovich went one-of-two from the line with 1:47 left. The teams traded misses again before Humacao hit one-of-two from the charity stripe before Chavlovich ended the first half with a long ball to give the Buffs the 31-16 lead.
The Buffs went 11-of-27 (40.7%) from the floor in the first half including 4-of-14 (28.6%) from long range and 5-of-10 (50%) from the charity stripe to go along with 25 total rebounds (five offensive, 20 defensive), 11 fouls, eight assists, eight turnovers, no blocks and four steals. Chavlovich went 4-of-8 from the floor in the first half including 3-of-6 from deep to lead all players with 12 points followed by Golightly Jr. with seven and Bonner with four to go along with six rebounds.
The Owls came out firing in the second half as they registered the first four points of the period before Evans ended the run with a jumper with 17:26 on the clock before Humacao scored four more points to cut the lead to 33-24 to force a WT timeout with 15:08 left. The Owls extended their run with a layup after the break before a pair of
Tommy Gove free throws ended the run at 35-26, the Buffs used the free throw line to add to their lead again as Evans knocked down a pair before the Owls answered with a layup followed by a Prince jumper at 39-29. Humacao hit two from the line before Prince knocked down two of his own before Chavlovich found Evans on the wing for a three to force a Humacao timeout with WT leading 44-31 with 11:44 left.
A Prince defensive board after the break led to a Chavlovich fast break three followed by another UPRH miss as Chavlocich hit another long ball to force a Humacao timeout with WT leading 50-31, the Owls answered with a three of their own after the timeout before Chavlovich knocked down a jumper before Humacao answered with a bucket of their own but WT added to their lead with layups by Prince and
Garrett Brockman heading into a UPRH timeout with WT leading 56-36. The Owls answered with a jumper after the timeout followed by a pair of Quaid free throws before Humacao responded with a layup at 60-40, Gove extended the WT lead with a long ball followed by a Brockman steal that led to two Quaid free throws before Humacao finished off a possession with a layup at 65-42.
Quaid hit one-of-two from the line before Humacao answered with a long ball to cut the lead to 66-45 followed by the teams trading free throws heading into a timeout with WT leading 67-46 with 3:44 left,
Chandler Fuzak hit two freebies after the break before the Owls responded with two of their own followed by a Prince layup. The Owls hit two from the line before Gerber knocked down a long ball with just over a minute left at 74-50, Humacao hit one-of-two from the free throw line to end the scoring as the Buffs took the 74-51 victory.
The Buffs went 23-of-48 (47.9%) from the floor including 9-of-25 (36%) from deep and 19-of-28 (67.9%) from the free throw line in the game to go along with 42 rebounds (nine offensive, 33 defensive), 25 fouls, 13 assists, 15 turnovers, two blocks and seven steals. Chavlovich went 7-of-14 from the floor including 5-of-11 from long range to score a game-high 20 points followed by Prince and Quaid with 10 points each.
UPR-Humacao went 18-of-55 (32.7%) from the field in the game including 3-of-16 (18.8%) from long range and 12-of-22 (54.5%) from the free throw line to go along with 33 rebounds (11 offensive, 22 defensive), 28 fouls, 11 assists, 13 turnovers, two blocks and 10 steals. Giono Gomez, Pedro Opio and Luis Cintrom scored seven points each for the Owls while Lugi Huertas, Eddie Urbaez and Opio grabbed six rebounds each.
NEXT TIME OUTThe Buffs will now take the mandatory NCAA holiday break before starting Lone Star Conference play on New Year's Eve against the Cameron Aggies (4 p.m.) at the First United Bank Center in Canyon.
