QUICK HITS
- The first six buckets by the Buffs in the game were scored by different players
- The Lions went on an 10-0 run late in the second half to take a 30-25 lead
- WT took a lead into the half in all of their first five LSC games this season before Wednesday
- West Texas A&M went 11-of-19 from long range in the second half to shoot 57.9% from deep
- Texas A&M-Commerce entered Wednesday leading the LSC in rebounding (45.9/game)
- The Buffs are now 48-30 all-time against Texas A&M-Commerce, WT is 23-17 in Commerce
 
LEADING THE WAY (Statistical Leaders)
Points – David Chavlovich (WT, 31 Points), Bryant Crowder (TAMUC, 23 Points)
Rebounds – Jerrod Walton (WT, 8 Rebounds), Jeff Bonner (WT, 8 Rebounds), Everrett Pleasant (TAMUC, 8 Rebounds)
Assists – David Chavlovich (WT, 5 Assists), Bryant Crowder (TAMUC, 3 Assists), Anthony Adams (TAMUC, 3 Assists), Jeremy Jones (TAMUC, 3 Assists)
Blocks – Jerrod Walton (WT, 1 Block), Bryant Crowder (TAMUC, 1 Block), Everrett Pleasant (TAMUC, 1 Block), Ronnie White (TAMUC, 1 Block)
Steals – Jeff Bonner (WT, 2 Steals)
 
CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M Buffaloes trailed by five points at the break but shot 51.5% from the floor in the second half including 57.9% from long range as the Buffs completed a Wednesday night Lone Star Conference sweep of the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions, 85-81 in front of over 1,300 fans at the A&M-Commerce Fieldhouse. The Buffs improve to 14-7 (3-3 LSC) with the win while the Lions drop their third straight game to fall to 12-5 (2-3 LSC) on the season.
 
The Buffs missed from deep three times before the Lions touched the ball for the first time as they used an Everrett Pleasant offensive board and free throws for the early 2-0 lead, Ryan Quaid answered with a jump hook in the lane followed by a Pleasant layup before Jeff Bonner responded with a layup of his own at 4-4. Commerce turned the ball over as David Chavlovich hit a three before the Lions answered with an Anthony Adams long ball, a WT miss led to a Bryant Crowder board and score heading into the first media timeout of the half with 15:36 left.
 
The Lions added to their lead after the break with a fast break Crowder layup followed by a Garrett Brockman turnaround jumper at 11-9 before misses on both ends and a Commerce over-the-back call to give WT the ball back, Joseph Prince knocked down a jumper to tie the game followed by a Jerrod Walton block but the Buffs would give the ball right back for a steal and score at 13-11. WT missed a jumper but the Buffs got the ball back with a Bonner steal that led to a Walton bucket at 13-13, Commerce stopped their scoring drought with a layup followed misses on both ends and a WT foul heading into another media timeout with 11:27 left.
 
The Lions gave the ball back after the break with a turnover followed by a Quaid slam and foul as the freshman completed the three-point play to give WT the 16-15 lead, Commerce couldn't connect on their next shot followed by a Chavlovich layup but TAMUC would respond immediately with a long ball at 18-18. The teams traded misses and turnovers followed by a Chandler Fuzak hook shot but Commerce answered again with a bucket of their own followed by misses on both ends again as the teams took at 20-20 with 7:39 left.
 
Jordan Evans got into the scoring action with a three from the wing right after the break followed by misses on both ends before a foul on the Lions as Quaid hit two freebies to stretch the WT lead to 25-20, the teams traded misses again as a WT miss from deep led to a Crowder fast break dunk followed by another WT miss and a Commerce foul heading into the last media timeout of the half with WT leading 25-24 with 3:44 left. Commerce took the lead after the break with a Craig Fofang bucket followed by a WT miss and foul but TAMUC couldn't convert as they missed the front end of the one-and-one, the Buffs continued to struggle from deep as a miss led to a Commerce alley-oop slam at 28-25 to force a WT timeout with 2:48 left.
 
Fofang hit two at the charity stripe after the break to run the lead to 30-25 followed by a WT turnover before a Fuzak rejection that led to a Walton bucket to stop the Commerce run at 8-0, TAMUC answered with a free throw followed by a WT miss from deep and a Pleasant bucket to run the Lion lead to 33-27 with just over a minute left. The Buffs gave the ball right back with a travel as the Lions added to their lead with an alley-oop slam by Pleasant at 35-27 before Chavlovich hit one-of-two at the line heading into a timeout with 23 seconds left. The Lions missed a jumper as the shot clock ticked away followed by a Rylan Gerber outlet pass to Chavlovich followed by Commerce foul as the sophomore hit two at the line at 35-30 heading into the locker room for the half.
 
The Buffs went 11-of-38 (28.9%) from the floor in the first half including 2-of-17 (11.8%) from long range and 6-of-7 (85.7%) from the free throw line to go along with 23 rebounds (nine offensive, 14 defensive), nine fouls, five assists, seven turnovers, one block and three steals. Chavlovich went just 2-of-8 from the floor but 3-of-4 from the free throw line to lead WT with eight points at the half followed by Quaid with seven while Walton and Bonner grabbed five rebounds each.
 
Commerce went 14-of-33 (42.4%) from the field including 2-of-8 (25%) from deep and 5-of-7 (71.4%) from the free throw line to go along with 23 rebounds (five offensive, 13 defensive), nine fouls, seven assists, six turnovers, two blocks and two steals. Pleasant went 4-of-6 from the floor to lead all players with 11 points at the half followed by Crowder with 10 while Fofang grabbed six rebounds in the first twenty minutes.
 
The Lions missed a pair from the charity stripe to start the second half as Chavlovich turned that into points with a trey off of the glass at 35-33, Crowder hit one-of-two at the line followed by a Bonner layup before another Crowder bucket to run the lead to 38-35. Evans connected on a long ball to tie the game again before Anthony Adams hit a jumper followed by turnovers on both ends before Chavlovich connected on a layup at 40-40, De'Andre Carson scored his first points with a bucket in the paint before Evans knocked down a contested three from the corner at 43-42. Commerce missed two at the free throw line followed by a WT missed jumper before an Evans defensive board heading into a media timeout with WT leading 43-42 with 15:24 left.
 
Evans hit his fourth long ball of the game right after the break followed by Fofang hitting two at the line before a WT miss and foul but the Lions continued to struggle from the charity stripe as they missed the front end of the one-and-one, the teams traded misses before Brockman knocked down a jumper at 48-44 followed by a Commerce turnover that led to a Brockman long ball to run the lead to 51-44. Fofang hit one-of-two at the line as Chavlovich added to the lead with a long ball before Carson answered on the other end with a trey from the corner, Brockman hit a contested three as the shot clock expired followed by a Commerce long ball heading into a timeout with WT leading 57-51 with 11:29 left.
 
Walton hit two at the line after the break followed by misses on both ends before Prince found Evans under the basket for an easy lead to stretch their lead to 61-51 before Adams answered with a jumper in the paint, the Buffs gave the ball away with a shot-clock violation heading into a WT timeout with 9:11 left and the Buffs leading 61-53. The Lions looked to score again with the alley-oop after the break but Crowder couldn't get it to go as Chavlovich added to the WT lead with a long ball from the wing at 64-53, Crowder responded with a bucket down low but Chavlovich nailed another three to quiet the Fieldhouse crowd followed by a Crowder bucket at 67-55 before a WT foul heading into a media timeout with 7:13 left.
 
The Lions missed twice at the charity stripe after the break followed by a Quaid layup before a Commerce miss from deep led to a Chavlovich long ball, TAMUC missed from deep again but a WT foul led to a pair of freebies by Adams at 70-60 before a WT miss from deep as Crowder connected on a bucket at 72-62. The Lions cut into the lead with a pair of Adams free throws at 72-64 before Evans hit a long ball from the top of the key to stop the small TAMUC run, Adams answered with a board and score followed by a Lions foul heading into the final media timeout of the game with WT leading 75-66 with 3:30 left.
 
Chavlovich hit two freebies after the break followed by a WT personal foul and technical as Adams hit two at the line for the technical then one-of-two for the personal foul to cut the WT lead to 77-69, Chavlovich finished a board and bucket followed by a Commerce miss that allowed the Buffs to run some time off of the clock as Quaid grabbed an offensive board to give WT another full possession with two minutes left. WT missed at the buzzer as the Lions turned that into a fast break layup heading into a timeout followed by a WT turnover as the Lions connected on another fast break layup with a foul as Adams completed the three-point play at 79-74.
 
Prince hit two huge free throws with just over a minute left followed by TAMUC hitting one-of-two at the line to cut the lead to 81-75, Chavlovich hit two at the line to run the lead to eight followed by a Commerce turnover as WT missed two at the line and a Crowder board and score to force a TAMUC timeout with WT leading 83-77 with 23.2 left. Prince hit two big free throws to make it a three-possession game followed by a Commerce miss from deep but Pleasant grabbed an offensive board with a WT foul with three seconds left followed by another Lions offensive board and bucket before the buzzer as WT took a 85-81 victory.
 
The Buffs went 28-of-71 (39.4%) from the floor including 13-of-36 (36.1%) from deep and 16-of-20 (80%) from the free throw line to go along with 44 rebounds (15 offensive, 29 defensive), 26 fouls, 13 assists, 11 turnovers, one block and four steals. Chavlovich went 9-of-22 from the floor and 6-of-14 from deep to tie a season high with 31 points followed by Evans with 17 and Brockman with 10 while Bonner and Walton grabbed eight rebounds each.
 
Commerce went 29-of-64 (45.3%) from the floor in the game including 4-o-15 (26.7%) from lone range and 19-of-32 (59.4%) from the charity stripe to go along with 40 rebounds (11 offensive, 29 defensive), 22 fouls, 13 assists, nine turnovers, three blocks and five steals. Crowder went 11-of-16 from the floor to lead the Lions with 23 points followed by Adams with 21 and Pleasant with 16 to go along with eight rebounds.
 
NEXT TIME OUT
The Buffs return to the friendly confines of the First United Bank Center this Saturday as the defending South Central Regional Champion #10 Texans of Tarleton State come to Canyon for a 4 p.m. tipoff in Lone Star Conference action. TSU enters the weekend with an overall record of 13-3 with a 3-1 mark in LSC play to sit alone in second place following an 89-71 win over Eastern New Mexico on Wednesday night in Stephenville.