COMMERCE, Texas – Qua Grant scored a game-high 23 points as No. 4 West Texas A&M clinched its second consecutive Lone Star Conference Regular Season Championship with a 81-69 win over Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday afternoon at the TAMUC Fieldhouse. The freshman was one of five Buffs in double figures as WT won back-to-back regular season titles for the first time in program history and clinched the No. 1 seed in the LSC Tournament on March 7-10 in Frisco, Texas.
THE BASICS
The Matchup:#4 West Texas A&M 81, Texas A&M-Commerce 69
Records:#4 West Texas A&M (27-3, 16-1 LSC), Texas A&M-Commerce (20-6, 12-4 LSC)
Venue:TAMUC Fieldhouse
Location:Commerce Texas
It was a back-and-forth battle from the opening tip as Brandon Hall scored the first five points of the game for the Buffs including a three-pointer that put them up 5-4. Trailing 9-6 at 16:22, a pair of free throws from Grant sparked a 8-0 run from the Buffs. Hall made a driving layup off a Joel Murray steal followed by a layup from Ryan Quaid and a three-pointer from Gach Gach to make it 14-9 in favor of WT.
The teams would trade three-pointers after TAMUC ended their run before James Pennington silenced the crowd with a dunk to make it 19-15 at 11:21. Two possessions later, Jordan Collins connected on his first three-pointer of the game followed by four straight points in the paint by Quaid. The Lions would go on a 7-0 run to retake the lead, 29-26, as the Buffs went nearly four minutes without a basket. Murray's jumper in the paint ended the drought with Grant nailing his second three of the first half on the next possession to make it 32-39 in favor of the Buffs at 2:25. Murray hit his second three of the half with less than a minute remaining before halftime that was countered by a TAMUC three on the next possession as WT trailed 36-35 at half.
The Buffs opened the second half on a 12-3 run over the first 5:31 minutes holding the Lions to one field goal. Gach got the run started with a three-pointer followed by a layup from Quaid following a steal from Grant. TAMUC would make a three to cut the lead to one before Hall and Mosley would hit jumpers on consecutive trips followed by another Grant three to make it 47-39. The Lions countered with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to make it a one-point game, 47-46. WT did not seem to mind as Hall hit a three followed by a jumper from Grant on WT's next two offensive possessions to push the lead back to six, 52-46, at 12:36.
Following a pair of free throws from TAMUC's Wiilie Rooks to make it 54-50, WT busted the game wide open with a 14-0 run highlighted by three consecutive three-pointers from Collins. Grant started the run with five straight points including an old-fashioned three-point play before Collins did his best Steph Curry impression with nine points in less than two minutes.
WT continued to make shots from all over the floor in the final 10 minutes of regulation as Grant made a pullup three-pointer followed by a layup from Quaid. Grant would put the nail in the coffin with a dunk off a steal from Gach at 2:53 to make it a 14-point game, 80-66.
In their 12th straight victory, WT shot 29-66 (43.9%) from the floor, 13-of-32 (40.6%) from three-point range and 10-of-19 (52.6%) from the charity stripe with 38 rebounds, 18 assists, six steals and four blocks with only six turnovers. Grant recorded his second career double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds while going 7-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three. Collins scored 12 points for the second consecutive game off the bench while tying a career-high with four three-pointers. Hall, Murray and Quaid all reached double figures as the Buffs finished the regular season 9-3 in true road games.
UP NEXT
West Texas A&M will finish the 2018-19 regular season on Tuesday, Feb. 26, when they host Eastern New Mexico as part of the Division II Showcase on ESPN 3. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:35 p.m.
