CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M Buffaloes withstood a 12-0 run by the Eagles of Southwestern Christian to start the second half as WT outlasted the Eagles, 78-70 in front of almost 400 fans at the First United Bank Center in Canyon, Texas. The Buffs win their fourth straight to move to 16-7 overall while the Eagles remain at 8-9 with the exhibiton loss.
 
The Eagles turned the ball over on their opening possession followed by misses on both ends before a Ryan Quaid board and score began the scoring, SCU answered with a Willie Harper basket followed by turnovers on both ends before David Chavlovich hit a three from deep at 5-2. An Eagles miss under the bucket led to a Jeff Bonner bucket followed by a Harper free throw before defending LSC Offensive Player of the Week Jordan Evans answered with a trey from the wing at 10-3, SCU missed from deep followed by a Joseph Prince three from the corner before a Harper jumper cut the lead to 13-5 heading into a media timeout with 15:14 left.
 
James Still went one-of-two from the line followed by a WT miss before the Eagles gave it right back with a turnover, the Buffs gave it away with an offensive foul that led to a Shawn Scott bucket followed by misses on both ends before Tommy Gove hit a long ball from the corner at 16-8. Bonner grabbed a defensive board that led to a Jerrod Walton board and score followed by a SCU illegal scree to send the teams into a media timeout with 11:55 left and the Buffs leading 18-8.
 
Quaid added to the WT lead with a jumper in the lane after the break followed by an SCU miss under the basket before an Eagle technical foul as Chavlovich hit one-of-two at the line at 21-8, the teams traded bad possessions followed by a Still basket before Chandler Fuzak found Chavlovich on the wing for an open trey at 24-10. The teams traded misses before a fast break Bonner layup and foul as the senior finished off the three point play at 27-10, Kris Brown hit a jumper in the paint followed by a WT miss and foul to head into a media timeout with 7:48 left in the first half.
 
The Eagles missed at the charity stripe right after the break followed by a WT miss from deep that led to a transition layup by Harper at 27-14, Quaid scored on an inbound play followed by an SCU turnover as Eric Golightly Jr. hit a three from the wing heading into an Eagles timeout with 5:45 left and WT leading 32-14. Mikel Parish hit two at the line after the break followed by a Bonner offensive board and foul as the senior hit two to make it 34-16. Still answered with a bucket followed by a WT miss from deep and a foul but Still missed the front-end of the one-and-one, WT gave the ball away again as Scott finished the fast break layup followed by another WT miss from deep but SCU gave it back with a travel heading into the last media timeout of the half with WT leading 34-20 with 3:47 left.
 
Evans hit an NBA range three from the wing after the break followed by misses on both ends and a SCU foul let WT add to their lead as Evans hit two at the free throw line to make it 39-20, Gabi Laurent found Still under the basket for a layup followed by a Brown rejection to give the possession back to the Eagles. Brown found Harper under the bucket for a basket followed by a WT illegal screen with 1:28 left. Laurent answered with a layup followed by misses from deep on both ends before Gove hit a three from the wing at 42-26, SCU missed a jumper but the Buffs couldn't find the bottom of the bucket at the buzzer as they took a 42-26 lead into halftime.
 
The Buffs went 14-of-37 (37.8%) from the floor in the first half including 8-of-23 (34.8%) from deep and 6-of-7 (85.7%) from the free throw line to go along with 20 total rebounds (six offensive, 14 defensive), 10 fouls, 11 assists, three turnovers, one block and one steal. Evans went 2-of-4 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the free throw line to lead WT at the break with eight points followed by Chavlovich and Bonner with seven each while Quaid grabbed six rebounds.
 
Southwestern Christian went 11-of-28 (39.3%) from the floor including 0-5 (0%) from long range and 4-of-8 (50%) from the free throw line to go along with 22 rebounds (five offensive, 17 defensive), eight fouls, seven assists, eight turnovers, two blocks and one steal. Harper went 4-of-7 from the floor and 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to lead all scorers at the break with nine points followed by Still with seven to go along with four rebounds.
 
The teams traded misses after the break before Laurent hit a jumper just inside the arc followed by a WT miss and a Parish bucket at 42-30, another Buffs turnover led to an Eagles fast break layup and foul to force a WT timeout with 18:08 left. Scott completed the three-point play after the break followed by another WT turnover and fast break layup as Scott hit another old fashion three-point play at 42-36, WT missed two at the line followed by a Laurent jumper to stretch the SCU run to 12-0. Chavlovich ended the drought with a jumper followed by misses on both ends before an SCU offensive foul led to a Bonner layup at 46-38 heading into a media timeout with 15:35 left.
 
Bonner hit one at the line after the break followed by a Scott bucket and foul as the sophomore finished another three-point play at 47-43, Chavlovich answered with a three from the wing followed by turnovers on both ends before Evans hit a three from the top of the key at 53-43. Harper answered with a layup followed by a WT offensive foul to give possession back to the Eagles but they couldn't convert as an Evans rebound led to a Gove trey from the wing at 56-45 heading into a media timeout with 11:54 left.
 
Parish knocked down two freebies after the break followed by an SCU miss and a Harper contested three from the top of the key to cut the lead to 56-50, the teams traded turnovers followed by a  WT miss from deep but the Eagles turned the ball over again with 10:29 left. A WT miss led to a Still fast break slam but the Buffs responded with an Evans bucket and foul as the sophomore completed a three-point play at 59-52, Harper answered with a three from the corner before an SCU foul let the Buffs add to their lead with two Evans freebies followed by turnovers on both ends with 8:30 left, Evans hit another long ball from the corner followed by a Laurent jumper heading into a media timeout with 7:30 left and WT leading 64-57.
 
Scott cut into the lead with a layup after the break followed by a Walton three from the wing on a pass from Gove at 67-59, Still answered with a bucket in the paint but WT missed the front-end to give SCU the ball back. Walton rejected an Eagles long ball attempt followed by a Quaid bucket before a Parish layup at 69-63, WT gave the ball back with a turnover followed by a Harper jumper in transition with 4:43 left heading into a Buffs timeout. Walton picked off an Eagles pass that led to two free throws by the sophomore before Harper answered again with a three from the top of the key at 71-68, Evans responded with a trey as the shot clock expired to head into a media timeout with 3:03 left.
 
An Evans steal led to a Bonner easy transition bucket followed by a SCU miss as Bonner grabbed a big rebound but WT gave it right back with a turnover as Brown connected on a fast break layup at 76-70, the teams trades misses followed by a Gove layup but the Eagles responded with a quick bucket at 78-70. The Buffs turned the ball over again to force a Southwestern Christian timeout with 39.4 seconds left, the Eagles gave the ball back with an illegal screen as the Buffs ran out the clock for the 78-70 win.
 
The Buffs went 26-of-62 (41.9%) from the field including 14-of-34 (41.2%) from long range and 12-of-17 (70.6%) from the free throw line to go along with 34 rebounds (11 offensive, 23 defensive), 18 fouls, 22 assists, 14 turnovers, three blocks and four steals. Evans went 6-of-12 from the floor and 5-of-10 from behind the arc to score 22 points for the Buffs followed by Bonner (12), Chavlovich (12) and Gove with a career high of 11 points.
 
Southwestern Christian went 29-of-62 (46.8%) from the field in the game including 3-of-12 (25%) from deep and 9-of-13 (69.2%) from the free throw line to go along with 40 rebounds (12 offensive, 28 defensive), 18 fouls, 19 assists, 16 turnovers, two blocks and seven steals. Harper went 9-of-18 from the floor including 3-of-8 from deep to score 22 points followed by Scott (15), Still (11) and Laurent (10) in double-digits while Parish dished out 11 assists.
 
UP NEXT
The Buffs return to Lone Star Conference action this weekend as they finish off the first half of LSC play against the rival Greyhounds of Eastern New Mexico with tipoff set for 4 p.m. on Saturday at the First United Bank Center. The Greyhounds enter the weekend with an overall record of 5-13 with a 1-5 mark in LSC play as they won their first league game in 19 tries last Saturday in Portales as they topped Texas A&M-Commerce (72-60).
 
WTAMU HALL OF CHAMPIONS
Saturday will be a special day at the FUBC as WT Athletics honors their newest inductees to the WTAMU Hall of Champions with recognition between games. Former Buffalo Basketball standout Tyler Cooper will be inducted on Friday night along with Brad Bailey (Football, 1992-94), former WT President Dr. Russell Long, Brandi Green-Malveaux (Women's Basketball 1997-01), Lanny Phillips (Baseball) and Harold Stuart (Football 1967-71) while longtime WT boosters Thom and Susan Hicks and Linda Elliott will be awarded the annual Legacy Award. The Hall was established in 1987 to recognize outstanding student-athletes, coaches and administrators for their achievements, accomplishments and support of Lady Buff and Buffalo athletics.
 
Cooper was a standout men's basketball player for the Buffs. The Amarillo High graduate was the first Fred Jacoby LSC Academic Athlete of the Year and was the LSC Academic Player of the Year from 2006 to 2008. Cooper earned a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship in 2008 and was an ESPN Academic All-American in 2008, he earned the WT President's Award in 2008 and was the President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). He played for his father Rick Cooper and was a team captain from 2006-2008. Tyler helped lead the team to the NCAA Tournament from 2006-2008, including a LSC championship in 2005-06 and a LSC runner-up finish in 2004-05 as he went 78-41 in a WT uniform.