CANYON, Texas – Five Buffs reached double figures on Saturday afternoon as the No. 5 West Texas A&M men's basketball team defeated Western New Mexico, 73-70, at the First United Bank Center.
WT extends its win streak out to five to advance to 10-1 on the season while the Mustangs move 5-2. The Buffs lead the all-time series 19-4 against WNMU including 11-3 in Canyon with a 10-game win streak.
Larry Wise led the Buffs offense with 19 total points, shooting 7-for-11 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers while going 3-for-3 at the free throw line.
Kavon Booker registered his career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The 6-6 guard shot 5-for-11 from the field with four free throws.
Cameron Bell had a season-high 12 points while
Hayden Blankley and and
Zach Toussaint each posted 10.
After back-and-forth action to lead off the opening five minutes, Western New Mexico broke away with its largest lead of the night at 16-10.
Zach Toussaint recorded the shot at the 3:54 mark to cut the Mustangs lead to one until
Jesse Iweze gave the Buffs the lead with a jumper in the paint. WT recorded a 6-2 run led by four points from
Kavon Booker to take a three-point lead at the end of the first half.
The Mustangs led off scoring in the second half with a fastbreak shot by Malik Johnson to make it 29-28 but costly fouls for WNMU led to a 8-0 run by to push the Buffs lead to nine, 37-28. A three-point play for Booker was followed up with a layup by Wise to give the Buffs a double-digit lead, 57-44, at the 8:02 mark.
With less then five minutes left of play, WNMU started to chip at the Buffs lead as Joshuwan Johnson shot from beyond the arc to make it a seven-point game until a 7-1 run brought the score within one. Booker and Wise ended the run with back-to-back layups to keep the Buffs ahead.
Free throws separated the Buffs from WNMU's offense as WT recorded a season high 27 shooting 75 percent from the charity stripe. From the floor, WT shot 36.8 percent (21-for-57) and 18.2 percent (4-for-22) from the three. The Buffs collected 40 total rebounds with 11 assists, 10 steals and four of blocks including two from Blankley.
The Mustangs 47.5 percent (29-for-61) from the field, 37.5 percent (6-for-16) at the three and 544.5 percent (6-for-11) at the free throw line. Tony Avalos led WNMU with 17 total points while Amarion Cash brought down a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Buffs return to action on Monday, Dec. 11, when they host Champions College for the Community/Education Game. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the First United Bank Center.
