PORTALES, N.M. – Joel Murray's 3-pointer with less than two minutes remaining in the game lifted No. 5 West Texas A&M over Eastern New Mexico, 76-71, on Saturday afternoon at Greyhound Arena. The sophomore scored five of his 22 points in the final three minutes as WT pushed their win streak over the Greyhounds to seven games and improved to 13-1 overall and 5-1 in Lone Star Conference play.
WT trailed by as many seven points in the opening minutes as they missed their first five shots before Qua Grant turned an offensive rebound into an old-fashioned 3-point play. The play sparked 14-1 run for the Buffs as they led 14-8 at 13:39 following a pair of free throws from Derrick Geddis.
The lead was five, 25-20, when the Greyhounds went on a 6-0 run to retake the lead with 6:56 remaining before halftime on Brandon Meadows dunk. The deficit was three until Grant connected on his only triple of the evening at 6:03 to tie the game at 28-all and start a 13-0 run from the visitors. The sophomore would score the opening 10 points of the run before Eric Mosley hit a 3-pointer. The Waxahachie native would score his 20th point of the first half on a layup followed by three from Geddis as WT lead 46-32 at halftime.
Much like the start of the game, WT struggled from the floor in the opening minutes of the second half before Mosley made a layup at 17:06 to make it 48-34. The Buffs saw their lead dwindle to six, 51-45, at 14:05 but responded with seven straight points, five of those coming from Murray, to push the lead back to double digits.
WT couldn't pull away from the Greyhounds as a 7-0 run from the home team made it a 5-point game, 61-56, at 8:48 on another dunk from Meadows. The game would eventually be tied at 68-all with under three minutes to play on a pair of free throws from Deng Kuany. Two possessions later, Murray helped the Buffs retake the lead with a pullup jumper following an offensive rebound from Mosley.
They would force a Greyhound turnover before Murray hit a three in the corner to push the lead to five, 73-68, with 1:13 remaining in the game. Grant would seal the victory with three free throws as Tom Brown improved to 12-1 all-time against ENMU.
Grant had a game-high 27 points, marking the third straight game he has scored over 20 points, going 9-of-16 from the floor and 8-of-15 from the charity stripe. Murray added 22 points going 4-of-9 from 3-point range with Geddis chipping in 14 points and five rebounds. John Brown recorded a team-high six rebounds off the bench.
WT continues their three-game road trip on Thursday, Jan. 9, against UT Permian Basin in Odessa. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Falcon Dome.
