CANYON, Texas – Joel Murray and Qua Grant combined for 48 points but it wasn't enough as No. 3 West Texas A&M lost to No. 21 Dallas Baptist, 87-78, on Saturday afternoon at the First United Bank Center ending the nation's longest home win streak at 45 games.
Grant had a game-high 25 points with 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and 11th of his career. Murray added 23 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals with Ugo Obineke and Jon'il Fugett also reaching double figures.
The Buffs got off to a hot start leading by as many as nine in the opening seven minutes, 19-12, led by seven points from Murray. The lead was five, 21-16, at 11:55 before the Buffs went on a 13-0 run over the next three minutes to push the lead to 18. Murray would score four of the first six points of the run before assisting John Brown for an easy layup. Grant would score the final five points of the run including of his three 3-pointers in the game.
The lead would reach 20, 43-23, at the 3:20 mark on a pair of free throws from J. Fugett. The junior would also score the final points of the first half for the Buffs from the charity strip giving WT a 49-27 lead at intermission.
After scoring the opening four points in the second half to push the lead to a game-high 22 points, 51-29, DBU responded with a 15-0 run over five minutes to cut the lead to seven, 51-44, on a 3-point play from Ricky Lujan. WT continued to struggle from anywhere outside the paint as DBU made it a 1-point game, 57-56, on a 3-pointer from Lujan with 10:33 remaining in regulation.
Grant hit a pair of free throws a minute later to push the lead to three, 61-58, but the Patriots responded with a three from Jalen White to tie the game. J. Fugett would make a pair from the charity stripe to put the Buffs back up two, 63-61, once again DBU responded with a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the game.
The Buffs were unable to get it closer than two in the final minutes as they suffered their first home loss since Jan. 18, 2018.
WT returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 14, with their first road game of the season at UT Permian Basin. Tip is schedule for 7:30 p.m.
