Final Four
Beth Rohrich - SPX Sports
79
West Texas A&M WT 32-4
85
Winner Ferris State FSU 37-1
West Texas A&M WT
32-4
79
Final
85
Ferris State FSU
37-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
West Texas A&M WT 35 44 79
Ferris State FSU 41 44 85

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Valiant Second Half Comeback Falls Short in Final Four Loss to No. 2 Ferris State, 85-79

Press Conference (Will be live when available)

Career Stats

Box Score

Season Stats

THE BASICS:
 
  • Score: #11 West Texas A&M 79, #2 Ferris State 85
 
  • Records: West Texas A&M 32-4, Ferris State 37-1
 
  • Location: Sioux Falls, S.D. (Sanford Pentagon)
 
  • The Lead: Down by as many as 17 points with less than ten minutes left in the second half, the No. 11-ranked and No. 4-seed West Texas A&M Buffs mounted a great comeback, but came up just short in an 85-79 loss in the first of two national semifinals to No. 2-ranked Ferris State Thursday evening.  WT senior David Chavlovich scored a game-high 33 points with 19 points in the second half as the Buffs cut the deficit all the way to three with 32 seconds left.
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
  • Ferris State used a 7-0 run for a 14-7 lead with 14:41 left in the first half in a frantic opening five minutes.
  • The Bulldogs built an eight-point lead at 27-19, but a bucket from sophomore Drew Evans cut the deficit to six at 27-21 with 7:35 left as WT made just one of its last seven shots.
  • A triple from Ferris State pushed lead back to eight, but freshman CJ Jennings answered at the other end for a 30-25 deficit.
  • An old fashion three-point play pulled WT within 33-28 from senior David Chavlovich with 5:32 left in the first half.
  • Out of the final media timeout of the half, Drew Cushingberry scored pushing the lead for Ferris State to a game-high nine at 37-28, as WT had not scored in the last 2:09.
  • Junior Gach Gach had great position inside, but FSU All-American Zach Hankins was bailed out pushing the lead back to nine, as WT had not scored a field goal in the last 4:51.
  • FSU's Markese Mayfield scored in transition for a game-high 11 point lead, but Chavlovich scored two free throws, and, following a miss by the Bulldogs, Chavlovich drained a triple at the buzzer for a 41-35 deficit at halftime.
  • A triple and a couple of offensive rebounds and put back from Hankins pushed the lead back 11 early in the second half.
  • Noah King buried his second triple of the game pushing the lead to 12 at 49-37 with 17:17 left, but Chavlovich buried his second triple at the other end cutting the deficit back to single digits at nine.
  • Ferris pushed the lead to 14 on a dunk from Hankins, but he was issued his fourth foul as Gach made two free throws cutting the deficit back to 12 with 12 minutes left.
  • King hit his third triple of the game for a 61-46 lead and the largest of the game as WT really struggled in the second half opening just 2 of 13 from the field, but stayed close with one triple and 6 of 6 from the line.
  • Quaid buried his third triple of the game for a 74-64 deficit with 5:43 left and a timeout by the Buffs.
  • Chavlovich buried his third triple of the game, pulling with within nine at 78-69 with 3:47 left.Out of a media timeout, Chavlovich hit another triple pulling the Buffs within six at 78-72.
  • Cushingberry scored at the other end, but sophomore Drew Evans was fouled making one for an 80-73 deficit.
  • A bucket from Chavlovich and a charge on the Bulldogs gave WT the ball with 2:02 left down five at 80-75.Following two missed free throws from Ferris State, Chavlovich scored his 33rd point of the game for an 82-79 score with 31.3 seconds left.
  • After a foul by the Buffs, Mayfield made one of two free throws and the Buffs had a chance at a triple from J. Evans, which missed, and a foul with two free throws pushed the final margin to 85-79.
 
 
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
  • WT shot 35.5 percent for the first half as the team was 11 of 31 from the field, while going 5 of 13 from beyond the arc and 8 of 10 from the line.
  • Chavlovich led the team with a game-high 14 points on 4 of 9 from the field with one triple and 5 of 5 from the line.Junior Ryan Quaid was 3 for 3 from the field with a triple for seven points.
  • Ferris State shot 41.2 percent from the field for 41.2 percent and were 5 of 10 from beyond the arc, while going 8 of 9 from the line.Cushingberry had a team-high eight points, while Hankins had seven points and nine rebounds.
  • The Bulldogs led 18-8 in points in the paint and 7-1 in points off turnovers as WT committed six miscues, while FSU had five.
  • Chavlovich finished with 33 points to lead all-scorers as he was 12 of 26 from the field, with four triples and went 5 of 6 from the line completing a storied career for the Buffs.
  • He finished his career with a league-record 2,490 points as he led all active career-scoring leaders in NCAA Division II.He finished playing in a school-record 127 games with 122 starts, going 789 of 1912 from the field (.413), while going a school-best 388 of 1062 from beyond the arc (.365) and was a school-record 524 of 667 from the line (.786).He had 473 rebounds with 506 assists and 156 steals for his career as he averaged 19.6 points.
  • Evans struggled Thursday evening, but capped an impressive career as he finished playing in 102 games with 451 field goals, 310 triples, 243 free throws and scored 1,455 career points, finishing third all-time in school history in scoring.
  • Quaid had another double-double for the Buffs, his 17th of the season as he scored 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds on 8 of 13 from the field with three triples tying his career-high and was 2 of 3 from the line.
  • Gach added 10 points and nine rebounds as he was a team-high 7 of 8 from the line.
  • WT struggled shooting as it was a season-low 35.2 percent on 25 of 71, but was 10 of 26 from range and 19 of 23 from the line.
  • Ferris State had four players in double figures led by Cushingberry, who had a team-high 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Hankins also had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.King finished with 11 points and three triples to lead the Bulldogs.
  • Ferris State shot 29 of 68 from the field for 42.6 percent, while going 8 of 21 from beyond the arc and 19 of 26 from the line.The Bulldogs held a 49-42 lead in rebounding and 38-24 in points in the paint.
 
 
UP NEXT:
 
  • The season comes to an end for the Buffs, but the record-breaking campaign included the programs' first Final Four, a Lone Star Conference regular season title for the first time since 1994, a LSC tournament title and a South Central Region title for the first time since 1998.
  • WT won its first game in the Elite Eight with the win Tuesday over Le Moyne and the 32-4 record marks the best in program history.
  • The Buffs return a number of key players for the 2018-19 season and have won 20 or more games in back-to-back-to-back seasons.
  • Chavlovich, Evans, senior Rylan Gerber and senior Tommy Gove went 96-35 in the last four years for the Buffs putting WT back on the national map with back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament and the Final Four run this season.
 
 
STAY CONNECTED:
 
  • For the latest on WT Athletics, follow the Buffs/Lady Buffs via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.  Also check back with www.gobuffsgo.com for the latest information on news, statistics, tickets and more on all of West Texas A&M athletics.
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Players Mentioned

Rylan Gerber

#RS Rylan Gerber

G
6' 3"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Rylan Gerber

#RS Rylan Gerber

6' 3"
Freshman
G