ORANGE, Calif. – Ryan Quaid recorded his 24th career double-double as the #4 Buffs of West Texas A&M opened the season with a 68-62 overtime victory over Drury at the D2CCA TipOff Classic in Orange, California. The senior scored a game-high 17 points while pulling down 18 rebounds as WT won its third consecutive season opener under head coach Tom Brown.
THE BASICS
The Matchup: West Texas A&M 68, Drury 62
Records: West Texas A&M (1-0), Drury (0-1)
Venue: Santiago Canyon College
Location: Orange, Calif.
The Buffs opened the scoring on a pair of free throws from Qua Grant after Ryan Quaid pulled down an offensive rebound on a missed jumper from Grant. Drury would answer with a three-pointer on their next possession to take the lead but back-to-back threes from Gach Gach and Brandon Hall stretched the Buffs lead to five. 8-3. Quaid would score the next five points for the Buffs as they headed into the first media timeout up 13-10.
Quaid would end a nearly two-minute scoreless drought out of the time out to push the lead back to five at 15-10. The Panthers responded with a 13-0 run over the next 5 minutes before Drew Evans hit a pair of free throws to make it 23-17. The deficit would reach as high as 11 points with 4:49 remaining in the first half before WT finished the half on a 12-2 run. Joel Murray got the run started with two free throws followed by a jumper by Quaid following a Panther turnover. WT would force another turnover on the next possession resulting in a layup from Brandon Hall before Quaid converted two freebies. Gach would score the final basket of the half on a layup with one second remaining as a result of another Panther turnover to make it 34-44
The Panthers would score the opening basket of the second half on a layup from Garrison Conley followed by two more free throws from Grant. A Jordan Collins three following the media timeout tied the game at 38-38 before they took the lead on a dunk from Derrick Geddis. DU would tie the game with a Julius Walker jumper but Collins responded with his second three of the half to put the Buffs up 43-40. The Buffs would head into the under 12-minute media timeout up four points courtesy of Gach's first three of the half and second of the game.
The teams would trade runs after the media timeout with the Panthers scoring eight straight points before the Buffs responded with a 8-0 run of their own fueled by six points from Murray and a pair of free throws from Gach to make it 54-50. DU's Isaac Johnson would score all seven of the Panthers remaining points in regulation including a layup with 27 seconds remaining to tie the game at 57-57. WT had a chance to win it at the buzzer but the shot was no good as they opened they headed to overtime in the season opener for the first time since 2009-10.
After allowing a three-pointer from Garrison Conley with under three minutes remain in overtime, WT would score the next nine points to take a commanding 66-60 lead. Hall hit a three before going 1-for-2 from the free throw line followed by a layup from Quaid. After a stop on the defensive end, Eric Mosley put the nail in the coffin with his first three of the game with under 30 seconds remaining before going 2-for-2 from the charity stripe in the final seconds.
The Buffs finished the game going 20-of-62 (31.7%) from the floor including 9-of-37 (24.3%) from the three and 19-of-25 (76.0%) from the charity stripe. Quaid led the way with 18 points going 7-of-12 from the field with Gach recording his third career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Murray chipped in nine points and steal in his collegiate debut while Hall had nine points, four assists and three rebounds.
They will return action at the D2CCA TipOff Classic tomorrow against Lindenwood at 11 a.m. A full recap can be found at GoBuffsGo.com after the game.
