CANYON, Texas – The No. 21-ranked West Texas A&M men's basketball team hosts Nebraska Christian College Saturday at 4 p.m. at the First United Bank Center in an exhibition game, prior to the start of the regular season next week. 
 
The Buffs are ranked 21^st in the preseason National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Top 25 and are coming off a 26-9 season in 2016-17 with a berth in the program's first Sweet Sixteen since 1997-98.  Head coach Tom Brown begins his fourth season at the helm of the Buffs as WT was picked runner-up in the preseason Lone Star Conference poll as voted on by league coaches, sports information directors and select media representatives. 
 
Brown is 64-31 (.674) in his three seasons at WT and has gone 28-18 in Lone Star Conference play since being hired on April 16, 2014.  He has guided WT to back-to-back 20-plus win seasons and the Buffs won 25 NCAA Division II games in 2016-17 marking the most Division II wins in a season, while the 26 overall wins tied for fourth-most in program history. 
 
Returning for the Buffs this season is a talented group of veterans led by senior guard David Chavlovich, who put together one of the best single-seasons in WT basketball history last season.  He set new single-season school-records in points (655), while holding the WT career mark for points (1,762), field goal attempts (1,367), 3-point field goals made (297) and 3-point field goal attempts (802).  Chavlovich broke the school all-time scoring record at UT Permian Basin on Feb. 4, 2017 and earned NABC Division II South Central Region All-District honors.
 
As a sophomore, Chavlovich was named the Lone Star Conference Player of the Year and finished his second year at WT with 634 career points ranking him then-second all-time in school history behind Damien Lolar with 650 points in 2006-07.  Following the season, he was named a NABC All-American, joining Lolar (2007) and Robert Lee (2008) as Buffs who earned the prestigious honor.

The Arlington, Texas, native, made an immediate impact his first season at WT as he was named Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year and led the team in scoring and ranked second in the league at 16.5 points per game.  He earned second team all-conference honors as a freshman.
 
He was named to the Preseason Basketball Times All-America Team this season and was honored as a Street & Smith's Magazine Preseason Second Team All-America selection earlier this fall.

Senior Jordan Evans, a native of Houston, Texas, also returns as he earned second team all-conference honors in his second year as a Buff in 2016-17.  Evans averaged 13.1 points per game and had a .425 shooting percentage, while draining 86 triples.  He was named honorable mention all-conference as a sophomore in 2015-16.  He has played in 66 games with 50 starts, scoring 890 points and averaging 13.5 points per game.  Evans is 175 of 453 from beyond the arc (.386) and 281 of 645 from the field (.436).  He has 294 rebounds (4.5) with 41 steals. 
 
Also returning as a senior is Tommy Gove, a native of Waconia, Minn.  He has played in 92 games with 31 starts, averaging 21.8 minutes, while draining 81 field goals with 59 triples and 170 assists for his three-year career.  Gove was a staple for the Buffs last season and not only excelled on the court, but in the classroom as he was named to the NABC Honor's Court.   Along with Gove, senior Rylan Gerber (Dumas, Texas) also returns for 2017-18 providing core senior leadership for the Buffs.
 
Junior Ryan Quaid returns after a breakout sophomore season as he earned South Central Region All-Tournament Team honors and continued to improve as the season went along.  The Fort Collins, Colo., native, shot .533 from the field, averaged 6.5 rebounds per game and 9.4 points per game.  As a freshman, Quaid saw action in 31 games with 16 starts and shot over 50 percent from the field (90-174) and averaged 4.3 rebounds per game.
 
Sophomores Drew Evans (Chicago, Ill.) and Jordan Collins (Houston, Texas) also return for the Buffs, while the team added seven new faces for 2017-18, including four freshmen, one sophomore and two juniors for the season.
 
Nebraska Christian is 2-0 on the year as a member of National Christian College Athletic Association. The Sentinels posted wins over Barclay College (110-101) and St. Louis Christian College (123-67).  Nebraska Christian plays at Oklahoma Panhandle State Friday evening before heading to Canyon for Saturday's game.
 
DJ Hanes leads the team averaging 34.5 points per game as he is 24 of 38 from the field (.632) with four triples and 17 of 1 from the line, while averaging 9.0 rebounds per game.  Chrys Jackson is second in scoring at 14.0 points and leads the team averaging 12.0 rebounds per game, but played in just one of the first two contests.  TJ Rivera is third in scoring at 13.0 points, while leading the team on five of 12 from beyond the arc.  Overall the Sentinels have six players averaging double figures and four of them played in both games previously.
 
As a team, Nebraska Christian is shooting .597 from the field on 89 of 149 and 14 of 38 from beyond the arc.  The Sentinels are 39 of 55 from the line (.709) and are averaging 115.5 points per game and 52.5 rebounds per game.  The opposition is shooting .405 from the field on 60 of 148, while going 18 of 47 from beyond the arc and 30 of 57 from the line (.526).  The opponents are scoring 84 points per game against NCC and averaging 31.5 rebounds per game.
 
The Sentinels are coached by Willie Williams, who also is the athletic director at the school.  He coached Grace University prior to the Sentinels where he guided the school to three consecutive NCCA Division II national tournaments from 2011-2014.  He played basketball at NCC where he earned first team all-conference honors, second team all-region and team Most Valuable Player accolades.  He then transferred to Grace University where he graduated and won a national championship in 2008. 
 
Saturday's game only will have live stats and fans can access the link to the live stats at www.gobuffsgo.com on the men's basketball schedule page.
 
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