CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M junior guard David Chavlovich dropped 28 points and the #22 Buffs held the nation's second highest scoring team 19 points below their season average as WT topped the visiting Falcons of UT Permian Basin, 89-80 in front of over 550 fans at the First United Bank Center in Canyon, Texas. The Buffs win their sixth straight contest to improve to 11-1 (3-0 LSC) while the Falcons fall to 9-2 (2-1 LSC) overall.
 
The Buffs missed from deep to start the game followed by a Josh Morris bucket before David Chavlovich found Jordan Evans for the bucket at 2-2, Evans grabbed a defensive board followed by turnovers on both ends before Skyler O'Laughlin connected on a jump hook in the lane followed by another UTPB turnover with 17:37 left. Illegal screens were called on both ends of the court before Chavlovich hit an NBA range three from the wing followed by a Daeshon Francis long ball at 7-5, Ryan Quaid connected on a jump hook in the paint before Johnnie Lacy hit a three from the top of the key followed by a WT turnover with 15:43 left heading into a media timeout with WT leading 9-8.
 
Francis hit two free throws after the break followed by a WT miss before Quaid rejected a Falcon layup attempt to lead to a UTPB foul on the other end as Carl White hit one-of-two from the stripe at 10-10, Morris' board-and-score gave Permian the lead followed by a WT miss from deep before a White steal and slam on the fast break attempt at 12-12. Sammy Allen found Morris under the bucket for a layup before Chavlovich hit a long ball followed by misses on both ends with 13:00 left, the Falcons gave the ball back with a turnover as Evans hit a three from the wing before Lucious McKay responded with a long ball of his own at 18-17 followed by a WT miss and a Morris slam heading into a media timeout with 11:15 left and UTPB leading 19-18.
 
Evans knocked down a long ball from the wing after the break followed by a Falcons miss from deep that led to Evans hitting one-of-two at the line before another UTPB miss from deep that led to Quaid hitting two at the free throw stripe at 24-19, Lacy responded with a bucket followed by a WT turnover as Vinnie Abbondola hit a transition three from the wing at 24-24. The Buffs missed a jumper as Lacy hit another transition trey from the wing to force a WT timeout with 8:09 left and the Falcons leading 27-24.
 
The Buffs missed from deep after the break followed by a Zeldric King bucket before misses on both ends and an Evans layup at 26-29, Chavlovich stole away a UTPB drive to the bucket as Evans hit two at the line followed by a Falcon turnover that led to a Chavlovich bucket and foul as the junior finished off the three-point play at 31-29. UTPB gave the ball away again with the WT full-court pressure followed by a Quaid tip-in rebound and a UTPB offensive foul as Chavlovich hit two freebies at 35-29 to stretch the WT run to 9-0. Lacy hit one-of-two at the line to end the WT run followed by the Buffs missing from deep but another UTPB turnover led to a White transition three from the wing at 38-30, White stole away a Permian pass that led to Eric Golightly Jr. hitting two freebies followed by misses on both ends heading into a media timeout with 3:35 left and WT leading 40-30 to extend their run to 14-1.
 
Andrew Poulter stopped the WT run after the break with a bucket followed by a WT miss from deep before Evans rejected a UTPB attempt at the basket, Poulter missed under the bucket as Joseph Prince threw down a posterizing dunk followed by a UTPB bucket at 42-35. Permian hit one-of-two at the line followed by a WT turnover before Garrett Brockman grabbed a defensive board that led to a Golightly Jr. three ball from the corner at 45-36, James McPherson answered with an old fashioned three-point play with 1:37 left followed by a Chavlovich layup before a White rejection with just over a minute to play. Chavlovich hit one at the stripe followed by a Permian offensive foul and Chavlovich offensive rebound but the Buffs failed to score before the half as they took a 48-39 lead into the locker room for halftime.
 
The Buffs went 15-of-32 (46.9%) from the field in the first half including 6-of-15 (40%) from deep and 12-of-14 (85.7%) from the charity stripe to go along with 18 rebounds (four offensive, 14 defensive), nine assists, eight turnovers, six blocks and five steals. Chavlovich went 4-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-2 from long range to lead the Buffs with 14 points at the break followed by Evans with 13.
 
UTPB was led offensively at the break by Morris and Lacey with eight points each followed by Allen and Francis with five while Allen grabbed eight rebounds in the opening period. The Falcons went 14-of-32 (43.8%) from the floor including 6-of-15 (40%) from deep and 5-of-7 (71.4%) from the line to go along with 21 rebounds (seven offensive, 14 defensive), nine assists, 13 turnovers, no blocks and three steals.
 
Lacy hit one-of-two at the line followed by an O'Laughlin turnaround bucket in the paint before Lacey hit a transition three at 50-43, WT missed from deep as Morris finished with a layup before a Chavlovich bucket and foul as the Preseason All-American finished off the three-point play at 53-45. Francis hit a three from the top of the key followed by turnovers on both ends followed by a White long ball from the top of the key at 56-48. The teams traded misses heading into a media timeout with 15:47 left and WT leading 56-48.
 
The Buffs turned the ball over after the break followed by a Permian miss and turnovers on both ends as Chavlovich finished under the bucket before another Permian miss but the Buffs gave the ball right back with an offensive foul at 58-48, King finished with a layup followed by a WT miss as Lacey hit a transition three from the corner at 58-53. Quaid hit a turnaround jumper in the paint followed by a Falcon miss and a WT technical foul as Matt Kelly hit two free throws at 60-55. UTPB was called for a technical foul as Evans hit two free throws followed by buckets on both ends to go along with a Permian foul with 11:23 left and the Buffs leading 64-57.
 
WT missed from deep after the break followed by a UTPB turnover and another Buffalo miss but the Falcons gave it right back with a turnover with 10:32 left, the teams traded misses before Evans finished under the bucket followed by a UTPB fast break layup at 66-59. Tommy Gove found White for a baseline layup then Gove drew a charge on the other end of the court but the Buffs couldn't convert as the teams went into the media timeout with 7:52 left and WT leading 68-59.
 
Golightly Jr. hit a three from the top of the key followed by Morris hitting one at the line before a WT turnover with 6:59 left and the Buffs leading 71-60, Steven Powell hit a three from the wing followed by a step-back jumper just inside the arc from Chavlovich. WT missed from deep and Permian knocked down a transition long ball from the wing followed by a Chavlovich board-and-bucket at 75-66, UTPB turned the ball over under the basket but WT missed from deep as Lacey knocked down a jumper in the lane at 75-68. The Buffs turned the ball over as the shot-clock wound down followed by a Permian bucket before a Chavlovich cross-over and layup with 3:40 left and WT leading 77-70.
 
McPherson hit two free throws after the break followed by White hitting two freebies at 79-72 with just over three minutes left, UTPB gave the ball right back with a turnover as Chavlovich hit a three in the corner followed by a Morris board-and-score with 2:26 left and WT leading 82-74. The Buffs turned the ball over after the break followed by a WT foul as Lacy hit one-of-two at the line at 82-75, Golightly Jr. answered with a bucket followed by a Permian miss from deep as the Falcons were forced to foul with 1:26 left. Quaid misses the front-end of a one-and-one but the Falcons gave the ball right back heading into a UTPB timeout with 1:23 left and the Buffs leading 84-75.
 
White knocked down two at the charity stripe after the timeout followed by a Powell board-and-score with 1:05 left and the Buffs leading 86-77 to force UTPB's final timeout. The Falcons were forced to foul after the break as White hit one-of-two followed by a Falcon three from the wing with 37.9 left, UTPB fouled again as Evans hit both from the line followed by a Falcon turnover to end the game, 89-80.
 
The Buffs went 29-of-64 (45.3%) from the floor including 9-of-31 (29%) from deep and 22-of-26 (84.6%) from the free throw line with 36 rebounds (eight offensive, 28 defensive), 15 assists, 17 turnovers, eight blocks and eight steals. Chavlovich went 10-of-20 from the floor including 3-of-9 from deep and 5-of-5 from the free throw line to lead all players with 28 points followed by Evans (19), White (15) and Golightly Jr. (12).
 
UT Permian Basin was led by Lacy who went 6-of-14 from the floor including 4-of-10 from deep to score 18 points followed by Morris with 15 and Francis with 10 while Allen grabbed 11 rebounds. The Falcons went 28-of-64 (43.8%) from the field including 12-of-27 (44.4%) from behind the arc and 12-of-18 (66.7%) from the free throw line to go along with 42 rebounds (13 offensive, 29 defensive), 17 assists, 24 turnovers, no blocks and five steals.
 
UP NEXT
The Buffs hit the road for the first time in over three weeks on Saturday night as they head to Las Vegas, New Mexico to take to the Cowboys of New Mexico Highlands with tipoff set for 8:30 p.m. at the John A. Wilson Complex. WT topped the Cowboys, 92-77 back on November 12^th in Canyon.