SILVER CITY, New Mexico – The #20 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M led by just four points at the break but WT shot 45.2% from the field in the second half on their way to a 76-61 road win at Western New Mexico in front of almost 200 fans at Drag's Court in Silver City, New Mexico. The Buffs snap a three game losing skid as they improve to 19-5 (7-4 LSC) while the Mustangs drop their seventh straight contest to fall to 2-17 (0-11 LSC).
 
The first half saw the teams traded the first 32 points of the afternoon before the Buffs went on a 7-0 highlighted by a Tommy Gove long ball from the wing at 23-16, WT ran their lead to double-figures with a Jordan Collins three at 32-22 but the Mustangs responded with a run of their own as they finished the half on a 9-3 run as the Buffs took a 35-31 lead into the locker room for halftime.
 
The Buffs were led at the break by Ryan Quaid with 10 points followed by Golightly Jr. with six. WT went 13-of-33 (39.4%) from the floor including 3-of-18 (16.7%) from deep and 6-of-9 (66.7%) from the charity stripe with 22 rebounds (five offensive, 17 defensive), nine assists, six turnovers, two blocks and four steals.
 
WNMU went 9-of-29 (31%) from the field including 2-of-9 (22.2%) from behind the arc and 11-of-16 (68.8%) from the free throw line with 21 rebounds (three offensive, 18 defensive), four assists, six turnovers, one block and four steals. The Mustangs were led at the break by Willie McCray with 12 points followed by Eddie Giron with 10.
 
The Buffs started the second half on a 14-4 run as they stretched their lead to 49-35 on a Carl White jumper in the paint heading into a media timeout, WT ran their lead to 65-46 as David Chavlovich hit a three on back-to-back possessions that sparked a WT run as Chavlovich scored 12 points in just over five minutes of action to run the score to 75-56. The Mustangs cut the lead to 76-61 heading into a timeout but that would be as close as WNMU would get as the teams went scoreless the final three minutes of the game as WT claimed the 76-61 win.
 
WT went 27-of-64 (42.2%) from the floor including 8-of-34 (23.5%) from long range and 14-of-21 (66.7%) from the free throw line with 43 rebounds (13 offensive, 30 defensive), 16 assists, 13 turnovers, three blocks and 11 steals. Chavlovich went 8-of-14 from the floor including 2-of-7 from deep to lead the Buffs with 21 points followed by Quaid (14), Golightly Jr. (12) and Evans (12) in double figures.
 
The Mustangs went 19-of-52 (36.5%) from the field including 3-of-16 (18.8%) from deep and 20-of-29 (69%) from the charity stripe with 33 rebounds (four offensive, 29 defensive), seven assist, 15 turnovers, one block and seven steals. McCray led all players with 22 points as he went 5-of-13 from the field and 12-of-13 from the free throw line.
 
UP NEXT
The Buffs conclude their five game road trip on Saturday afternoon as they head to Odessa, Texas to take on the Falcons of UT Permian Basin with tipoff set for 4 p.m. at the Falcon Dome. UTPB (16-4, 8-3 LSC) ran their win streak to six games on Saturday as they topped Eastern New Mexico, 85-67 in Portales.