CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M junior guard David Chavlovich moved past NBA Champion Maurice Cheeks and former teammate Tez Dumars into fourth place on WT's all-time scoring list on Friday afternoon as the Buffs rolled past Wayne State College, 92-74 in front of over 400 fans at the First United Bank Center in Canyon during Day 1 of the Pak-A-Sak WT Thanksgiving Classic. The Buffs win their second straight contest to move to 7-1 overall while the Wildcats fall to 1-3 overall.
 
Skyler O'Laughlin started off the scoring with a jump-hook in the lane followed by a Carl White steal that led to a Joseph Prince three for the early 5-0 lead, WSC answered with a long ball followed by turnovers on both ends before a Jordan Evans long ball from the top of the key at 8-3. Kendall Jacks knocked down a jumper before Evans found O'Laughlin for a layup before WSC responded with a Vance Janssen three-point play at 10-8, another WSC turnover led to a foul on the other end as David Chavlovich hit two freebies and a Wildcats charge that led to a White bucket at 14-8 headed into a media timeout with 15:38 left.
 
Chavlovich stole away a Wildcat pass after the break as Eric Golightly Jr. finished with a baseline layup followed by a WSC bucket at 16-10, the teams traded misses before Chavlovich hit a three from the wing to tie current Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach Maurice Cheeks (1975-78) for fifth place all-time on WT's scoring list with 1,227 points. Prince added to the lead with a floater in the lane followed by a WSC miss and another Prince bucket headed into a media timeout with WT leading 23-10 with 11:43 left in the first half.
 
The Wildcats missed from deep as Chavlovich hit a jumper in the lane to pass Cheeks (1,229) before a WT foul but WSC missed the front end of a one-and-one but the Buffs gave the ball right back with a turnover, a WT miss led to an easy Wildcat layup to force a Buffs timeout with WT leading 25-14 with 9:35 left. WT missed from deep but a Tommy Gove steal led to a Garrett Brockman three from the corner at 28-14, Janssen answered with a three of his own followed by a WT offensive foul heading into a media timeout with 7:59 left and WT leading 28-17.
 
Wayne State knocked down two at the line followed by another WT miss and foul as Matt Thomas hit two freebies but the Buffs responded with a Drew Evans layup at 30-21, Ben Hoskins hit a three from the corner before Chavlovich hit a three to pass former teammate Tez Dumars (2011-15) for fourth place all-time on WT's scoring list with 1,232. The teams traded buckets as White slammed home a baseline drive followed by misses on both ends before White found O'Laughlin for the big slam with a foul as the senior finished off the three-point play at 37-26. The Wildcats answered with a jumper before a WSC foul sent the teams into the final media timeout of the game with the Buffs leading 38-28 with 3:55 left.
 
WSC hit a layup after the break followed by a Chavlovich acrobatic bucket before turnovers on both ends and a Prince board-and-bucket at 42-31, the Wildcats missed on their next possession that led to a pair of Golightly Jr. freebies with 1:19 left. Luke TerHark hit a jumper to end the WSC drought but another Wildcat foul sent Golightly Jr. to the line for two more at 46-33, Thomas answered with a layup followed by a WT miss at the buzzer as the Buffs took a 46-35 lead into the locker room for halftime.
 
The Buffs went 17-of-32 (53.1%) from the field including 5-of-14 (35.7%) from deep and 7-of-9 (77.8%) from the free throw line to go along with 11 rebounds (three offensive, eight defensive), nine assists, three turnovers, no blocks and six steals. Chavlovich went 4-of-7 from the floor and 2-of-5 from deep to lead the Buffs with 12 points at the break followed by Prince with nine and O'Laughlin with seven points.
 
WSC went 13-of-20 (65%) from the floor in the first half including 3-of-8 (37.5%) from deep and 6-of-7 (85.7%) from the free throw line to go along with 14 defensive rebounds, seven assists, 13 turnovers, two blocks and one steal, Jacks went 4-of-6 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe to lead the Wildcats with 11 points followed by Thomas with nine and Janssen with six while Jacks grabbed four rebounds.
 
The teams traded turnovers to start the second half before a WSC miss from deep led to a Prince trey from the top of the key at 49-35, the Wildcats answered with a baseline layup followed by fouls on both ends before WSC hit two free throws at 49-39. The teams traded long balls before Ryan Quaid hit one-of-two at the line followed by a pair of Wildcat free throws at 53-44, Golightly Jr. hit two at the line followed by a WSC layup and a WT miss heading into a media timeout with 15:18 left and the Buffs leading 55-47.
 
The teams traded free throws after the timeout followed by misses on both ends before O'Laughlin scored on an inbound play at 59-47, the Wildcats gave the ball right back with a turnover followed by misses on both ends before an O'Laughlin rejection led to D. Evans going one-of-two at the line with 12:51 left. Jacks hit two freebies followed by misses on both ends before J. Evans hit one-of-two at the line before another WSC miss from deep and a Prince baseline layup but the Wildcats answered with a pair of buckets followed by a J. Evans long ball from the top of the key at 66-53 headed into a timeout with 10:10 left.
 
Jordan Cornelius hit a trey after the break before Prince responded with one of his own followed by a Wildcat layup at 69-58 heading into a media timeout with 8:55 left. Golightly Jr. hit two free throws followed by a Gove bucket heading into the under-eight media timeout with 7:53 left and the Buffs leading 73-58. WSC hit two freebies after the break followed by a Chavlovich layup before a Wildcats miss that led to another Chavlovich bucket and foul for a three-point play at 78-60, WSC missed again as Prince turned it into a fast break layup to force a Wildcats timeout with 6:33 left and WT leading 80-60.
 
Thomas knocked down a pair at the line after the break followed by a WT miss before a Chavlovich defensive board led to a D. Evans floater in the lane at 82-62 but the Wildcats answered with a three heading into a timeout with WT leading 82-65 with 5:10 left. A Wayne State foul led to D. Evans hitting two at the line followed by a Wildcats bucket at 64-65, Chavlovich hit a crossover jumper followed by a White steal and a D. Evans layup at 88-67 with 3:32 left headed into the final media timeout of the game.
 
Jerrod Walton grabbed a defensive board after the break but the Buffs couldn't convert as WSC hit two freebies at 88-69, Jordan Collins responded with a layup followed by a WT foul as Hoskins hit two at the line with 2:10 left. The teams traded free throws before a WSC foul led to Walton hit one-of-two at the line followed by a Wildcats layup to end the game, 92-74.
 
The Buffs went 31-of-56 (55.4%) from the floor including 9-of-24 (37.5%) from deep and 21-of-30 (70%) from the charity stripe to go along with 31 rebounds (seven offensive, 24 defensive), 16 assists, nine turnovers, two blocks and eight steals. Chavlovich went 7-of-14 from the floor including 5-of-5 from the free throw line to lead all players with 21 points followed by Prince with 19 and Golightly Jr. with 13 for the Buffs while J. Evans grabbed six rebounds.
 
Wayne State College went 23-of-44 (52.3%) from the floor including 6-of-17 (35.3%) from lone range and 22-of-26 (84.6%) from the free throw line to go along with 24 rebounds (one offensive, 23 defensive), 11 assists, 17 turnovers, three blocks and four steals. Thomas went 6-of-9 from the floor including 6-of-7 from the charity stripe to lead the Wildcats with 20 points followed by Jacks with 14 to go along with five rebounds.
 
UP NEXT
The Buffs continue wrap-up action at the Pak-A-Sak WT Thanksgiving Classic tomorrow afternoon as they take on the Crimson Storm of Southern Nazarene with tipoff set for 2:30 p.m. at the First United Bank Center. SNU fell to Eastern New Mexico on Friday afternoon, 76-73.