CANYON, Texas – The Buffaloes of West Texas A&M moved to a perfect 14-0 inside of the First United Bank Center on Thursday night as they topped the Lions of Texas A&M-Commerce, 100-98 in front of almost 1,000 fans in Lone Star Conference action in Canyon. The Buffs move to 23-7 (11-6 LSC) overall while the Lions fall to 18-8 (10-7 LSC) on the season.
 
Eric Mosley started off the game with block followed by a WT miss under the bucket as Jovan Austin started the scoring with a floater in the lane, David Chavlovich responded with a jumper just inside the arc followed by a Marquieth Russell board-and-score before a Skyler O'Laughlin bucket at 4-4. Austin hit a three from the wing followed by a WT offensive foul and an O'Laughlin steal as Jordan Evans hit two free throws followed by a De'Andre long ball at 6-10, Ryan Quaid answered with a bucket followed by a Malik Albert layup and an Evans transition three before Albert finished again heading into the first media timeout with TAMUC leading 14-11 with 15:03 left.
 
Albert finished around the rim again after the break followed by a Lion foul as Evans knocked down two before a Quaid rebound and a Chavlovich turn-around jumper at 15-16, Quaid grabbed another board and O'Laughlin hit one-of-two at the line followed by a Tommy Gove rebound and a Commerce foul as Joseph Prince hit two freebies before a TAMUC miss and a Mosley bucket heading into a media timeout with 11:40 left and WT leading 20-16.
 
Chavlovich grabbed a board after the break as Prince hit a transition long ball from the wing followed by misses on both ends before Albert hit one-of-two at the line at 23-17, the Buffs missed from deep followed by a WT foul as Albert hit two more freebies before Chavlovich hit two at the line at 25-19. Austin hit a three from the wing followed by turnovers on both ends as Daquane Willford hit one at the line before Eric Golightly Jr. hit a long ball from the top of the key heading into a media timeout with 7:41 left and WT leading 28-23.
 
The Buffs turned the ball over after the break as Willford hit two free throws followed by another WT turnover and a Dorian Armstrong bucket at 28-27, the teams traded misses followed by a Quaid bucket and a WT foul but the Lions missed both at the line but another Buffalo miss from deep led to a Trey Washington long ball at 30-30. Prince drew a charge on the defensive end followed by a Commere foul as senior hit a free throw followed by a Chavlovich rebound and WT turnover before a Russell bucket under the rim but Chavlovich responded with a long ball followed by a Rylan Gerber rebound and WT turnover heading into a media timeout with 3:19 left and WT leading 34-32.
 
Carson hit two freebies after the break followed by a Gove long ball from the corner and a Russell slam at 37-38, the teams traded turnovers before Gove hit two at the line followed by Carson hitting a long ball from the corner and a Lion foul as Quaid hit one-of-two at 40-41. Gove hit a free throw followed by a TAMUC turnover and a Chavlovich layup before a Willford bucket and a WT miss, the Lions gave the ball right back with a turnover to give the Buffs the last possession of the half as but a miss from deep sent the teams into the locker room tied at 43-43.
 
The Buffs went 12-of-23 (52.2%) from the floor including 5-of-11 (45.5%) from deep and 14-of-18 (77.8%) from the free throw line with 17 rebounds (two offensive, 15 defensive), seven assists, eight turnovers, two blocks and four steals. Chavlovich led the Buffs at the break with 11 points as the junior went 4-of09 from the floor and 1-of-4 from deep.
 
Texas A&M-Commerce went 14-of-31 (45.2%) from the floor including 5-of-10 (50%) from long range and 10-of-14 (71.4%) from the free throw line with 14 rebounds (five offensive, nine defensive), eight assists, eight turnovers, two blocks and three steals. Albert led the Lions with nine points at the break followed by Carson, Austin and Russell with eight points each.
 
Carson started off the scoring in the second half with a three from the wing before Chavlovich answered with a trey of his own, the teams traded misses followed by a Russell give-and-go bucket and a Golightly Jr. board-and-score at 48-48. Evans found O'Laughlin for a layup followed by a Seymore bucket and Chavlovich free throws heading into a media timeout with 15:40 left and WT leading 52-50.
 
Austin tied the game with a bucket after the break followed by a WT miss from deep and a Armstrong board-and-score and another WT miss that led to a Seymore fast break layup with the foul as the senior finished off the three-point play at 57-52, Prince responded with a long ball from the wing followed by a Commerce miss and a Chavlovich bucket before TAMUC answered with an Armstrong layup at 59-57. Chavlovich hit a three at the shot clock buzzer followed by an Albert long ball heading into a WT timeout with 12:12 left and Commerce leading 62-60.
 
The teams traded misses after the break followed by a Prince baseline reverse layup and misses on both ends before TAMUC hit one-of-two at the line followed by a Quaid offensive board and bucket at 64-63, Montrell Little responded with a three-point play followed by a Prince long ball from the wing and a Little jumper just inside the arc. Evans hit a transition three followed by misses on both ends before Washington hit two freebies heading into a media timeout with 7:44 left tied 70-70.
 
Armstrong's board-and-score gave the Lions the lead after the break followed by a Commerce foul as Golightly Jr. hit two freebies before a Mosley steal led to a Prince fast break layup at 74-72, Albert hit two at the line followed by a Quaid offensive board and Prince bucket before another WT foul led to Austin hitting two at 76-76. Prince gave the Buffs the momentum again with a layup and a foul as the Palmdale native hit the freebie followed by a TAMUC miss and an Evans layup before Gove drew a charge with 4:55 left.
 
O'Laughlin hit one-of-two at the line followed by an Armstrong layup and an Evans three from the top of the key at 85-78, Chavlovich grabbed a rebound and the Lions fouled again to send the teams into a media timeout with 3:44 left and WT leading 85-78. Gove hit one-of-two at the line after the break followed by a WT foul as Albert hit one before an offensive foul on the Buffs with 3:24 left, Washington hit one-of-two followed by a Chavlovich bucket and foul as the Arlington product finished off the three-point play at 89-80.
 
O'Laughlin rejected a Commerce layup attempt and the teams traded misses before an Austin fast break layup and a Commerce timeout with 1:45 left and WT leading 89-82. Prince hit one-of-two at the line for a new career high followed by an Austin bucket and a WT turnover that led to another Lion bucket, Chavlovich hit one at the line followed by a TAMUC turnover heading into a WT timeout with 1:08 left.
 
Prince added to his point total with a baseline layup followed by an Austin board-and-score with 40 seconds left, TAMUC was forced to foul as Chavlovich hit both at the line followed by an Albert bucket and a WT turnover and layup with 18.2 left and WT leading 95-92. Chavlovich hit two more at the line followed by a Carson long ball from the corner and another Lion foul as Quaid hit both before Albert hit a leaning three with 0.8 left, Commerce fouled again with 0.3 left as Evans hit one for the 100-98 win.
 
The Buffs went 29-of-58 (50%) from the floor including 11-of-31 (35.5%) from long range and 31-of-42 (73.8%) from the charity stripe with 37 rebounds (seven offensive, 30 defensive), 14 assists, 12 turnovers, four blocks and six steals. Chavlovich led the Buffs with 29 points followed by a new career high from Prince with 24 while Quaid led the way with nine rebounds.
 
TAMUC was led by Albert with 20 points with four other players in double-digits. The Lions went 34-of-71 (47.9%) from the floor including 9-of-20 (45%) from deep and 21-of-32 (65.6%) from the free throw line with 39 rebounds (14 offensive, 25 defensive), 16 assists, 13 turnovers, two blocks and four steals.
 
UP NEXT
The Buffs conclude their regular season schedule on Saturday afternoon as they host the #15 Texans of Tarleton State on a Senior Day matchup with tipoff set for 4 p.m. at the First United Bank Center in Canyon. The American Sports Network will be on hand to broadcast the event, the LSC doubleheader will be shown locally on KCPN-LP My Amarillo TV. The Texans will enter Saturday with an overall record of 22-5 (13-4 LSC) following a 84-76 loss to UT Permian Basin on Thursday night in Odessa.