CANYON, Texas – Derrick Geddis scored all of his career-high 20 points in the second half as No. 3 West Texas A&M defeated Tarleton 83-73 on Thursday evening in front of 1,387 fans at the First United Bank Center. The Buffs improve 24-1 overall and 16-1 in Lone Star Conference play following their fifth straight victories over the Texans.
The game was tied at 5-all in the opening three minutes before the Buffs went on a 10-2 run to give them an eight-point advantage, 15-7, at 13:56. Qau Grant scored the opening five points of the run including a 3-pointer from the left wing while Joni'l Fugett and Joel Murray also scored during the run.
It would be a 13-point lead for WT four minutes on a 8-0 run from the home team. The teams traded makes from beyond the arc including a make from JT Warren of an offensive rebound from Grant. Fugett would take the lead to double figures with a steal and layup. Grant would finish the run his second 3-pointer of the first half, this time from the right wing.
Grant continued to score at will making it a 15-point lead, 30-15, with 6:43 remaining until halftime. The Texans went on a 7-0 run of their own later in the half to make it 32-24 at 2:01 before Hayden Blankley's offensive rebound turned into a layup from Murray to end the run. Warren would score the final basket of the half for the Buffs on an assist from his high school teammate, Grant, to give WT a 38-26 lead at the break.
What Grant was for the Buffs in the first half, Geddis was that in the second half as he scored the first five points for WT including a 3-pionter from the left side. The Houston product continued to punish the Texans from downtown with his second and final three of the evening at the 16:50 mark to make it 48-33.
John Brown recorded three of his four offensive rebounds in the second half including a putback dunk at 12:25 on a missed layup from Fugett. WT continued to lead by double digits until six minutes remaining in the game when the Texans went on a 8-0 run to cut the lead to six, 67-59. Following a 30-second timeout, Grant scored 10 straight points for the Buffs including back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 77-66 heading into the final media timeout.
Geddis would score four of the final six points of the game for the Buffs including a dunk that brought the Buff Faithful to their feet as they pushed the nation's longest home win streak to 39 games.
Grant finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season to go along with four steals and four assists. Geddis finished the game with 20 points, all of those coming in the second half, going 9-of-12 from the floor and 2-of-3 from 3-point range while pulling down eight rebounds. Murray was also in double figures with 17 and three assists as WT shot 44.6 percent from the floor and 31.3 percent from three.
The Buffs welcome Dallas Baptist to Canyon for the first time since 1990 on Saturday, Feb. 15. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
