LAWTON, Okla. – Road wins in the Lone Star Conference never come easy as No. 4 West Texas A&M found out on Friday night as they Buffs held on to defeat Cameron 86-82 in Lawton. The Buffs improve to 10-1 overall and 8-1 in LSC play with the win over the Aggies.
Murray finished with a game-high 25 points after making a career-best 14 free throws. Grant just missed a double-double with 24 points and nine rebounds. Toussaint was 6-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-6 from 3-point for 16 points while Kavon Booker reached double figures for the second time in his career with 10 points and six rebounds.
Four different Buffs scored in the opening four minutes as they lead 9-8 at the first media timeout before going on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to force an Aggie timeout. After missing their first four free throws of the game, Murray went 3-for-3 from the charity stripe followed by a 3-pointer from Grant. Murray finished the run with a 3-pointer of his own, this time on an assist from Grant to make it 18-8.
Toussaint joined the fun on the next possession with his first 3-pointer of the game to push the lead to the lead to 21-11 with 12:34 remaining in the first half. The sophomore would continue to score at will over the next three minutes to reach double figures with a jumper to make it 32-17 in favor of the Buffs.
After missing seven straight shots, Murray would end the drought with a pair of free throws to put him in double figures for the ninth straight game and push the lead to 17, 36-19, at 4:48. WT continued to struggle from the floor, hitting only one of their last seven shots over the final before halftime. Murray scored four straight points from the free throw line in the final minute before intermission to give the Buffs a 44-32 lead.
Toussaint opened the second half with his third 3-pointer of the game to make it 47-32 for the Buffs. As the Aggies cut the lead to 10- 51-41, three minutes, Booker scored a put back on his third offensive rebound of the game to kickstart a 8-3 run.
The Aggies would once again cut the led to single digits with under 12 minutes remaining in the game but back-to-back jumpers from Murray pushed the lead back to 11, 68-57. CU continued to put pressure on the Buffs with a 7-0 run to cut it to a 4-point game at 9:04 before Jon'iil Fugett hit a 3-pointer.
With the lead at seven, 71-64, Grant scored five straight for the Buffs including an old-fashioned 3-point play to push the lead back to double figures, 76-66. CU would not go down without a fight with a 12-3 run to cut the lead to one with less than three minutes left in regulation.
The Buffs came up with stops on two consecutive Aggie possessions to stay in the lead before Toussaint hit his fourth and final 3-pointer of the night to make it 83-78. The three came as a result of two offensive rebounds including one from Cameron Bell on his own miss. WT would make three free throws in the final seconds to hold on and push their win streak over the Aggies to nine games.
The Buffs and Aggies will face off again tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.
