CANYON Texas – Qua Grant scored 25 of his career-high 32 points in the second half as No. 4 West Texas A&M defeated Angelo State 88-63 on Thursday night in front of 1,109 fans at the First United Bank Center. The Buffs improve to 16-1 overall and 8-1 in Lone Star Conference play with the win.

The Buffs saw themselves down 10 points early in the first half as Angelo State made eight of their first 11 shots. WT battled back with back-to-back 3-pointers from Jordan Collins and Zach Toussaint to make it a six-point, 19-13, at the under 12-minute media timeout. 

WT would once again trail by 10 points later in the half, 28-18, before responding with a 9-1 run powered by 3-pointers from Collins and Toussaint. They would finally retake the lead, 32-30, with 1:51 remaining before halftime on a pair of free throws from Jon'il Fugett. The Buffs thought they would go into the halftime with a two-point lead following a pair of free throws from Grant but Jeremy Hayes' half court make at the buzzer made it 37-36 in favor of the Rams. 

Trailing 48-45 at the first media timeout of the second half, WT went on a 6-0 run to retake the lead for good. Grant scored five of the six points during the run including a 3-pointer on a nice dish from Murray. A 12-0 run that spanned nearly four minutes busted the game wide open as they lead 63-50 at 9:58. Grant continued to do whatever he wanted at the rim as the sophomore scored the opening eight points of the run before Murray and Geddis chipped in. 

Even when the game tightened up, WT never allowed ASU to get back into the game as Grant, Fugett and Murray all made big baskets down the stretch. Grant finished the scoring for the Buffs with a 3-point play, the old-fashioned way as WT won their seventh straight over ASU. 

Grant went over 30 points for the first time in his career with 32 to go along with 11 rebounds and six steals for his fourth double-double of the season. Murray finished with 20 points, 16 in the second half, with six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Toussaint came off the bench to score nine points including a pair of 3-pointers giving him a make in 16 straight games. 

The Buffs finish the home stand on Saturday, Jan. 18, when they host Lubbock Christian. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.