AUSTIN, Texas – Qua Grant scored a season-high 28 points as No. 3 West Texas A&M dropped its first game of the season on Thursday evening to No. 12 St. Edward's, 100-87. The Buffs allowed 58 second half points as they fell to 9-1 on the season and 1-1 in Lone Star Conference play.
The Buffs jumped out to an early 8-0 lead in the opening three minutes of the game thanks in large part to offensive rebounds. Grant opened the scoring for the Buffs with a layup on their first possession followed by put backs from Derrick Geddis and Eric Mosley on the offensive glass. Geddis would finish the run with a pair of free throws following another offensive board.
SEU would respond with a 10-3 run of their own to make it a 1-point game, 11-10, before Jon'il Fugett hit a corner three to make it 14-10. WT trailed for the first time of the game, 19-18, at 10:49 following an August Haas 3-pointer followed by another three from Ryan Garza.
Trailing 25-22 at the under 8-minute media timeout, WT relied on their defense to go on a 6-0 run to retake the lead. Grant found a wide-open Mosley under the hoop for a layup followed by back-to-back steals from Fugett that lead to two easy scores. Grant kept the Buffs in the lead with four straight points to make it 34-27 in favor of the visitors.
Turnovers allowed the Hilltoppers to go on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 36-36 with under three minutes remaining in the first half. A Jordan Collins 3-pointer and pullup jumper from Zach Toussaint in the final minute made it 42-all at halftime.
Grant would open the second half with his only 3-pointer of the game to tie the game before the Hilltoppers got hot from beyond the arc to make it 53-45 with under 16 minutes remaining. A three from Toussaint and a dunk from Geddis kept the Buffs within seven, 58-66, at 11:22 until Garza and Ashton Spears combined to hit four 3-pointers over the next two minutes to bust the game wide open.
The Buffs continued to fight their way back into the game as Grant and Joel Murray combined to scored 13 straight points but were unable to get stops on the defensive end as the Hilltoppers handed the Buffs their first loss of the season.
Grant went over 20 points for the seventh time this season with 28, one shy of his career high, going 8-of-19 from the floor, 1-of-7 from 3-point range and 11-of-14 from the charity stripe. Geddis finished with 13 points and eight rebounds with Murray (13) and Toussaint (10) both in double figures.
WT returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 14, against St. Mary's. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the McDermott Center on the campus of Incarnate Word.
