CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M Buffaloes hit three free throws at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime but a three-point play with just over three seconds left in the extra period by the Cameron Aggies was the difference in a 83-80 game in front of almost 700 fans at the First United Bank Center in Canyon on Saturday afternoon to open Lone Star Conference play. The Buff fall to 10-5 (0-1 LSC) on the season in their first game in 13 days while the Aggies improve to 8-5 (1-0 LSC) overall.
 
The teams traded misses to start the game before a David Chavlovich pull-up jumper on the baseline started the scoring followed by a Jamaal Brantley layup to tie the game, turnovers on both ends were followed by misses by both teams as a Cameron steal led to Deondre Ray hitting one-of-two at the line followed by another WT turnover as Ray hit one-of-two again to make it 4-2. WT continued their cold streak as they missed from under the basket before a Ryan Quaid defensive rebound led to a Tommy Gove long ball from the wing followed by misses on both ends before a Quaid rejection led to an Aggie foul heading into a media timeout with the Buffs leading 5-4 with 14:07 left.
 
Quaid hit two at the line after the break followed by a Cameron shot-clock violation that led to a Joseph Prince baseline jumper at 9-4, Cameron responded with a three-point play by James Cross followed by turnovers by both teams before Chavlovich hit a jumper in the lane but CU registered another three-point play by Brantley to cut the lead to 11-10 heading into another media timeout with 11:14 left.
 
WT gave the ball away after the break followed by misses on both ends before Jarrod Walton ended the drought with a three from the top of the key at 14-10, Prince grabbed a defensive board and Cameron was called for a technical foul as Chavlovich hit one-of-two but WT couldn't add to their lead as they missed a jumper but Cameron missed two from the line as Prince found Jeff Bonner under the basket for a bucket and the foul as the senior stretched the WT lead to 18-10 with a three-point play. Cameron responded with a pair of Brantley free throws followed by a WT miss from long range and a Brantley layup and foul to head into the under-eight minute media timeout with WT leading 18-14 with 7:41 left.
 
The Aggies completed the three-point play after the break followed by a Prince floater on the baseline before Brantley connected on a hook shot at 20-17, Gove found Quaid under the bucket for a layup followed by JV Long hitting two at the line before Chavlovich nailed a long ball from the corner with just under six minutes left. Brantley continued to dominate inside as he connected on a layup followed by a WT miss that led to a Cameron Lee fast break layup before Chavlovich answered with another three at 27-23, Lee found Brantley under the basket again before a Jordan Evans floater in the lane followed by a Cameron offensive foul led to a Bonner offensive board and layup heading into the last media timeout of the half with WT leading 31-25 with 3:34 left,
 
Chavlovich knocked down a three on a WT inbound play after the break followed by misses on both ends before Delvonte Pierre scored but couldn't complete the three-point play at the line, the teams traded misses and turnovers before Ray hit two at the charity stripe heading into a WT timeout with 1:16 left and the Buffs leading 34-29. The Buffs gave the ball back with a shot-clock violation after the break to force another Cameron timeout followed by a Bonner defensive board that led to a Prince jumper as the shot clock expired as the Buffs took the 36-29 lead into the locker room for halftime.
 
The Buffs went 14-of-36 (38.9%) from the floor in the first half including 4-of-12 (33.3%) from deep and 4-of-6 (66.7%) from the charity stripe to go along with 27 rebounds (eight offensive, 19 defensive), 10 fouls, eight assists, seven turnovers, two blocks and no steals. Chavlovich went 5-of-11 from the floor including 2-of-5 from long range in the first half to score 13 points followed by Prince with six and Bonner with five to go along with six rebounds.
 
Cameron went 9-of-27 (33.3%) from the floor in the first half including 0-of-3 from long range and 11-of-16 (68.8%) from the free throw line to go along with 17 rebounds (two offensive, 15 defensive), seven fouls, eight assists, six turnovers, one block and six steals. Brantley went 6-of-10 from the floor in the first half including 4-of-4 from the free throw line to lead all players with 16 points followed by Ray with four to go along with three rebounds.
 
The Aggies turned the ball over to start the second half followed by a Chavlovich long ball from the wing before CU answered with another Brantley three-point play, WT missed on their end of the court as the Aggies cut into the lead with a bucket followed by another Buffs miss and fast break layup by Lee to cut the lead to 39-36. WT gave the ball right back with an offensive foul but Gove grabbed a defensive board that led to a Quaid bucket to end the CU run, Long hit a jumper in the paint followed by a WT miss from deep as Cameron turned that into two Ray freebies before a Walton baseline layup ran the score to 43-40, Brantley answered with a floater in the lane followed by a WT miss from deep before Chavlovich grabbed a defensive board that led to a Walton layup and foul to head into a media timeout with 15:01 left and WT leading 45-42.
 
Long hit two at the line after the break followed by misses on both ends before Long hit a jumper in the lane to give CU the lead at 46-45, WT couldn't turn a Cameron turnover into points as they missed under the basket followed by an Aggies layup before Chavlovich answered with a jumper of his own followed by a CU miss that led to a Cameron foul under the basket to head into a media timeout with Cameron leading 48-47 with 11:52 left.
 
The Buffs missed on their inbound play attempt after the break which led to an Aggies layup before Walton hit one-of-two from the line, Cameron responded with another bucket before Evans hit one-of-two from the line before a Cameron miss led to a Gove long ball from the top of the key to tie the game at 52-52. Walton stole the ball away and went to the bucket as the sophomore hit one-of-two from the line followed by misses on both ends before Ray knocked down a long ball to give CU the 55-54 lead to head into a media timeout with Cameron leading 55-54 with 7:42 left.
 
WT missed from the line right after the break followed by a Cameron bucket followed by a WT miss from long range and another Long layup to run the lead to 59-54, the Buffs missed from deep again followed by a Long jumper before Evans ended the run with a three from the wing to force a timeout with CU leading 61-57 with 5:21 left. Cameron added to their lead with a bucket after the break followed by a WT miss from deep but the Buffs got the ball back as Eric Golightly Jr. found Quaid under the bucket to send the teams into the last media timeout with CU leading 63-59 with 3:37 left.
 
Cameron missed from deep following the break but WT did the same followed by a pair of misses at the line by CU that led to a pair of Quaid freebies at 63-61, Cameron answered with a offensive board and bucket before a Quaid bucket gave the momentum back to the Buffs. Ray knocked down a jumper followed by a pair of Chavlovich free throws with just under a minute left, Long made it a two-possession game with a pair of freebies as Cameron took a 69-65 lead into a timeout with 40 seconds left. Chavlovich hit an off-balance three from the wing with 28.6 seconds left to cut the lead to 69-68 heading into a timeout followed by a WT foul and two Aggie free throws at 71-68 with 20.9 left.
 
Cameron grabbed the board and went to the other end of the court to shoot free throws, Cross missed both from the line to give WT a chance as Chavlovich was fouled near half court on a long shot attempt as the sophomore went to the line with a chance to tie. The sophomore hit all three to tie the game at 71-71 heading into a Cameron timeout with four seconds left, the Aggies tried to win the game in regulation but a Long jumper in the paint couldn't find the bottom of the basket as the teams headed to overtime tied 71-71.
 
The Aggies started off the overtime scoring with a three-point play by Lee before the Buffs responded with one of their own by Walton to remain tied at 74-74, Walton grabbed a big defensive board but WT couldn't take the lead as they missed from deep. The teams traded misses before a fast break layup by Long followed by a jump-ball that gave possession to the Aggies with 2:33 left, Gove grabbed another big board followed by an Evans layup to tie the game again before Brantley gave CU the lead again with a floater in the lane. Chavlovich hit one-of-two from the line to cut the lead to 78-77 followed by a big foul on the Aggies as Gove went for a rebound to send the sophomore to the line, Gove hit one-of-two to tie the game followed by Long hitting both to give CU the 80-78 lead with under a minute left.
 
Bonner grabbed a huge offensive board and finished the putback to tie the game at 80-80 with 20 seconds left before the Aggies connected on a layup with a foul under the basket for the three-point play to give Cameron the 83-80 lead with 3.3 seconds left. The long attempt by the Buffs to tie the game fell short as the Aggies took the 83-80 victory.
 
The Buffs went 27-of-76 (35.5%) from the floor in the game including 8-of-33 (24.2%) from long range and 18-of-27 (66.7%) from the charity stripe to go along with 51 rebounds (18 offensive, 33 defensive), 23 fouls, 16 assists, 10 turnovers, two blocks and two steals. Chavlovich went 8-of-22 from the floor including 4-of-13 from deep to lead all players with 27 points followed by Walton (13) and Quaid (12) in double-digits while Quaid grabbed 11 rebounds for the double-double.
 
Cameron went 29-of-63 (46%) from the floor including 1-of-11 (9.1%) from deep and 24-of-33 (72.7%) from the charity stripe to go along with 42 rebounds (six offensive, 36 defensive), 21 fouls, 13 assists, nine turnovers, one block and eight steals. Brantley went 10-of-17 from the field including 5-of-5 from the free throw line to score 25 points in the game followed by Long (21), Lee (15) and Ray (11) while Brantley registered a double-double with 10 rebounds.
 
NEXT TIME OUT
The Buffs will open up 2016 inside of the First United Bank Center on Saturday afternoon as they take on the Stars of Oklahoma City University with tipoff set for 4 p.m. in Canyon. The Stars enter the weekend with an overall record of 5-2 with a 2-0 mark in Sooner Athletic Conference (NAIA) play.