CANYON, Texas – No. 3 West Texas A&M made 14 three-pointers as they rolled past eighth-seeded New Mexico Highlands, 109-95, on Friday evening in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Quarterfinal at the First United Bank Center in Canyon, Texas. Ryan Quaid scored a team-high 25 points while Qua Grant chipped in as the Buffs tied the program record for wins in a season with 32. 

The Buffs now play fourth-seeded Texas A&M-Commerce for the second time in less than a week on Saturday, March 16, in the South Central Regional Semifinal. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. 

THE BASICS,
The Matchup:#3 West Texas A&M 109, New Mexico Highlands 95
Records:#3 West Texas A&M (32-3), New Mexico Highlands (22-10)
Venue:First United Bank Center
Location:Canyon, Texas

Grant opened the game on a personal 5-0 scoring run including an old-fashioned three-point play after breaking the Cowboys full court press. The Buffs continued to score at will as they found their stroke from three-point range with Brandon Hall, Jordan Collins and Quaid all connecting from downtown to make it 22-4 at 13:56. NMHU's Raquan Mitchell keep NMHU in the game making a three-pointer on three consecutive trips down the floor to cut the lead to 26-15. 

The lead would reach 21 points, 45-25, on Eric Mosley's three followed by a jumper in the paint from Quaid. Collins would hit another three, this time from the left corner to add to the Buffs lead, 50-26.  Quaid would score six of his 19 first half points in the final four minutes as WT reached the 60-point plateau at halftime for the second time this season, 61-38. 

WT continued to find easy buckets at the beginning of the second half with Quaid, Grant and Gach Gach all making layups. Quaid's dunk on a nice drive and dish from Murray at 17:09 made it 69-40 in favor of the Buffs. The teams traded scores over the next few minutes before went on a 6-0 run just under 10 minutes remaining on a pair of three-pointers from Grant to take a game-high 30-point lead, 92-62. The Cowboys got the lead under 20 points in the final minutes but never truly threatened the Buffs as they rolled to their 17^thstraight win overall and 24 straight at home. 

WT finished the contest going 37-of-73 (53.4%) from the floor, 14-of-33 (42.4%) from three-point range and 17-of-24 (70.8%) from the free throw line with 41 rebounds, 20 assists, 11 turnovers, four steals and three blocks. Quaid reached the 20-point plateau for the 10^th time this season going 10-of-12 from the floor while pulling down eight rebounds. With his eighth 20-point performance of the season, as the Waxahachie, Texas product went 7-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-3 from three-point range with seven rebounds and three assists. Joel Murray continued to fill the stat sheet with 18 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Collins scored a career-high 15 points going a career-best 5-of-8 from three-point range.