FRISCO, Texas – West Texas A&M advanced to the program's 13thLone Star Conference Tournament Final on Saturday afternoon with a 83-74 win over Tarleton at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas. The backcourt duo of Brandon Hall and Qua Grant combined for 48 points as the Buffs defeated the Texans three times in a single season in program history.
The Buffs will face off against No. 2 seed Texas A&M-Commerce in the Championship game tomorrow, March 10, at 1 p.m. Live stats and video links can be found at GoBuffsGo.com under the men's basketball schedule page.
THE BASICS,
The Matchup:#4 West Texas A&M 83, Tarleton 74
Records:#4 West Texas A&M (30-3, 17-1 LSC), Tarleton (21-10, 10-8 LSC)
Venue:Comerica Center
Location:Frisco, Texas
It was a slow start for both offenses in the opening minutes until Ryan Quaid made a layup on a fast break followed by a three-pointer from Gach Gach to make it 7-2 for the Buffs. The Texans responded with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to take their first lead of the game until Joel Murray connected on his first three of the game at 11:40 to make it 11-10 for WT.
With the game tied at 15-15 with under nine minutes remaining, Gach made the Texans pay with a three on a second chance opportunity to help WT retake the lead. Eric Mosley continued to shoot the ball well from beyond the arc with his first three of the game at 6:21 to stretch the lead to four, 23-19. Following a 4-0 run from the Texans, WT finished the first half on a 15-5 run to lead 38-29. Grant got the run started with three-pointers on back-to-back possessions followed by another make from deep from Hall and Mosley.
Hall opened the scoring for the Buffs in the second half with another make from downtown to push the lead to double figures for the first time in the game, 41-29. The senior from Arlington, Texas continued to pace the WT offense with a driving layup and another three to make it 48-34 with 16 minutes remaining in regulation. The Texans would score on the following possession but Mosley countered with his sixth three-pointer of the tournament making it 51-36.
Mosley continued to punish the Texans from downtown as the junior hit his career-best fourth three-pointer of the contest at 11:35 to make it 60-48. The lead would stay around double digits until the eight-minute mark when the Texans went on a 7-0 run to make it 67-62. WT wouldn't let them get any closer as Hall and Grant combined to score the next nine points for the Buffs. Murray also came up big for the Buffs as the freshman hit a jumper followed by a pair of free throws to push the lead to eight, 80-72, with less than two minutes remaining. Grant went 3-of-4 from the charity stripe in the final minute as WT advanced to consecutive LSC tournament finals for the second consecutive season.
WT shot 28-of-54 (51.9%), 16-of-27 (58.3%) from three-point range and 11-of-15 (73.3%) from the free throw line with 24 rebounds, 16 assists and four blocks. Grant reached 20-plus points for the seventh time this season with a game-high 26 to go along with his seven rebounds going 9-of-15 from the floor, 4-of-6 from three. Hall had 22 points to go allowing with six assists and five rebounds with Murray and Mosley both scoring 12 points.
