LAS VEGAS, Nevada – The #19 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M ran their win streak to eight games on Sunday afternoon as they used five players in double-figures to outlast the previously unbeaten #12 Vikings of Western Washington, 90-83 at the South Point Casino & Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada during the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic. The Buffs move their record to 13-1 for their best start to a season since 2010-11 while the Vikings fall to 8-1 on the season.
 
The Vikings started off the scoring with a Taylor Stafford jump shot before Skyler O'Laughlin answered with two freebies before WWU responded with a Daulton Hommes long ball at 5-2, O'Laughlin connected on a jumper followed by misses on both ends before another Vikings bucket at 7-4. The teams traded misses followed by an Eric Golightly Jr. long ball from the wing before Western Washington answered with a Hommes bucket to send the teams into the first media timeout of the afternoon with WWU leading 12-9 with 15:22 left in the half.
 
Western Washington hit a three after the break before Jordan Evans tied the game as the sophomore knocked down a trey on back-to-back possessions at 15-15, the teams traded fouls followed by Drew Evans hitting one-of-two at the line but WWU answered with a bucket at 17-16. Jeffery Parker knocked down another bucket followed by misses on both ends to send the teams into a media timeout with the Vikings leading 19-16 with 9:48 left in the first.
 
Parker continued his strong start to the game after the break with another layup before Jerrod Walton answered with an old fashioned three-point play and a WWU turnover that led to a David Chavlovich three ball from the wing at 21-22, WWU hit two at the line following a WT technical followed by Chavlovich going one-of-two at the line before a Vikings miss that led to a Chavlovich long ball at 26-23. Another WWU miss led to a Walton layup followed by a Vikings foul and two Carl White freebies at 30-23, WWU missed again as Walton hit one at the charity stripe to stretch the WT run to 15-2 followed by another WWU miss heading into a timeout with 6:05 left and WT leading 31-23. WWU hit two freebies after the timeout followed by O'Laughlin hitting two at the line before misses on both ends heading into a media timeout with 4:37 left and WT leading 33-25.
 
Western Washington cut into the WT lead after the break with a jumper before the Buffs responded with buckets from D. Evans and Joseph Prince at 37-27, the Vikings responded with two free throws before a Walton layup at 39-29 with 3:26 left. The Vikings went on a run of their own with buckets on back-to-back possessions to cut the WT lead to 39-33 before a Tommy Gove pull-up jumper in the paint, the teams traded misses followed by two bricks at the charity stripe by the Vikings. WWU used a Buffalo miss to cut into the lead with a long ball from the wing followed by a WT miss at the buzzer as the Buffs took a 41-36 lead into the locker room.
 
The Buffs were led at the break by Walton and O'Laughlin with eight points each as they combined to go 5-of-10 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the free throw line while Walton led the Buffs with five rebounds. WT went 13-of-31 (41.9%) from the floor including 5-of-13 (38.5%) from deep and 10-of-13 (76.9%) from the free throw line to go along with 21 rebounds (two offensive, 19 defensive), five assists, two turnovers, two blocks and one steal.
 
Western Washington went 13-of-33 (39.4%) from the field in the first half including 4-of-15 (26.7%) from long range and 6-of-11 (54.5%) from the free throw line to go along with 24 rebounds (five offensive, 19 defensive), six assists, four turnovers, two blocks and two steals. Parker went 5-of-11 from the floor in the first half to lead all players with 10 points to go along with six rebounds.
 
O'Laughlin started off the scoring in the second half with a jumper followed by a WWU miss from deep that led to a Chavlovich transition long ball at 46-36, White rejected a Vikings offering and the sophomore hit a three on the other end of the court to force a WWU timeout with 18:24 left and WT leading 49-36. Western Washington answered with a jumper followed by a WT offensive foul that led to a Vikings three ball from the wing at 49-41, Prince responded with a jumper in the lane followed by a WWU layup before Prince responded again with a bucket at 53-43.
 
Deandre Dickson slammed home a finish followed by a WT miss that led to a WWU free throw at 53-46, Chavlovich answered with one of his own followed by a Viking bucket and a WT miss that led to a fast break layup at 54-48 but the Buffs missed again and Western Washington answered with a layup followed by a J. Evans long ball heading into a media timeout with 14:03 left and WT leading 57-50. Walton grabbed a big defensive board after the break as the junior turned it into a layup followed by turnover on both ends before Stafford answered with a bucket at 59-52, Walton hit one at the line followed by a WWU long ball from the top of the key and a WT miss from deep before Prince drew a charge to give the ball back to the Buffs.
 
The Buffs gave the ball back with an illegal screen as the Vikings hit one-of-two at the line followed by a WT missed in the paint that led to another Stafford long ball to cut the lead to 60-59, Chavlovich hit two freebies followed by misses on both ends before WWU hit two at the charity stripe before misses on both ends heading into a media timeout with 9:35 left and WT leading 62-61. J. Evans stole away a WWU pass followed by two Golioghtly Jr. freebies and misses on both ends before another Vikings foul send Golightly Jr. to the stripe to extend the WT lead to 66-61, WWU responded a free throw followed by a WT miss and a Vikings bucket at 66-64.
 
Western Washington tied the game at the free throw line before a big offensive board and three ball from Golightly Jr. at 69-66, the Vikings hit two more at the line followed by a Prince layup and a big board from Ryan Quaid to go along with a WWU foul with 5:54 left. Quaid missed the front end followed by a WWU miss that led to a Prince long ball from the top of the key at 74-68, the Vikings answered with a three-point play followed by a WT turnover heading into the final media timeout of the game with WT leading 74-71 with 4:56 left.
 
The Vikings cut into the WT lead after the timeout with a bucket followed by a Buffalo miss from deep and a foul as WWU tied the game at the line at 74-74, Chavlovich responded with a bucket followed by a big steal by Gove that led to a Vikings foul as hit two at the line to run the WT lead to 78-74. Western Washington hit one-of-two at the line followed by a Vikings foul as Walton hit a free throw at 79-75 with 2:30 left, Parker knocked down a long ball followed by a bucket from White before another Parker make at 81-80. The Buffs missed on their trip down the floor as the Vikings called a timeout with 1:10 left and WT leading 81-80.
 
Walton grabbed a big defensive rebound on a WWU miss from deep as Golightly Jr. added to the WT lead with a long ball with just 39 seconds left to force a timeout with the Buffs leading 84-80, a Western Washington miss led to a foul as Golightly Jr. knocked down two freebies followed by a Viking three-point play at 86-83 with 21 seconds left. WWU was forced to foul again as Chavlovich hit two at the line at 88-83 before a Western Washington miss and a Walton layup at the buzzer ended the game, 90-83.
 
The Buffs went 27-of-63 (42.9%) from the floor including 11-of-27 (40.7%) from deep and 25-of-35 (71.4%) from the free throw line to go along with 41 rebounds (seven offensive, 34 defensive), 11 assists, six turnovers, four blocks and five steals. Chavlovich went 4-of-12 from the floor including 8-of-10 from the charity stripe to lead the Buffs with 19 points followed by Golightly Jr. (15), Walton (14), Prince (11) and O'Laughlin (10) in double-figures.
 
Western Washington went 28-of-67 (41.8%) from the field in the game including 8-of-27 (29.6%) from long range and 19-of-30 (63.3%) from the free throw line to go along with 48 rebounds (12 offensive, 36 defensive), 12 assists, nine turnovers, two blocks and three steals. Stafford went 6-of-16 from the floor and 3-of-7 from deep to lead all players with 21 points followed by Parker with 19 and Dickson with 10 while Hommes grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
UP NEXT
The Buffs wrap up their holiday road trip on Monday afternoon as they take on the Tars of Rollins College (7-4) with tipoff set for 1 p.m. CT at the Doolittle Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Tars fell to #8 Angelo State earlier in the afternoon, 85-80.