FRISCO. Texas – No. 3 West Texas A&M overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat No. 9 St. Edwards, 81-65, and win their third straight Lone Star Conference Championship on Sunday afternoon at the Comerica Center in Frisco. The Buffs become the second school in LSC men's basketball history and first since 1987 to win three consecutive tournament titles.
Joel Murray was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player while Qua Grant was named to the All-Tournament team.
The Buffs scored the opening five points of the game before the Hilltoppers went on a 17-0 run over the next five minutes to put WT in an early hole. Murray finally ended the run with a pullup jumper to make it 17-7 at 12:12.
Eric Mosley made the first of his four 3-pointers at the nine-minute mark to make it 23-13 after SEU's Ryan Garza had connected from downtown. WT continued to struggle from the floor as the Hilltoppers led by a game-high 17 points, 33-16, at 4:34 following a layup from Ashton Spears. A pair of free throws from Grant cut the lead to 38-25 at halftime.
WT opened the second half on a 14-4 run to make it a single possession game at 15:05. Jon'il Fugett started the run with an old-fashioned 3-point play followed by a layup from Murray and three free throws from Grant. Mosley and Jordan Collins connected from 3-point range to make it 42-39 and ignite the Buff Faithful.
SEU's Corey Shervill made three free throws to push the lead back to six before the Buffs went on a 7-2 run to take the first lead since opening two minutes of the game at 48-47 on a layup from Derrick Geddis. The teams continued to trade baskets over the next four minutes until the Murray hit his first three of the game to give WT a four-point advantage, 58-54. Fugett would score four straight points for WT including a jumper at 5:54 to make it 65-59.
Collins and SEU's Shervill traded 3-pointers before Grant scored seven straight points to push the lead to double figures, 75-65, with under two minutes remaining in the game. Grant would finish the game with another layup in the final seconds to secure the Buffs 23rd straight victory.
Murray led the team in scoring for the 12th time this season with 12 points going 6-of-12 from the floor and 8-of-8 from the floor to go along with eight rebounds and four assists. Grant had 18 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists while Fugett, Mosley and Collins each chipped in 12 points.
The Buffs earned the LSC's automatic postseason bid and will learn their postseason fate at 9:30 p.m. during the NCAA DII Selection Show broadcast on NCAA.com.
