LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 5 West Texas A&M won their third straight NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championship on Tuesday evening with a 101-92 victory over No. 10 Lubbock Christian at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock.
The Buffs shot 55.7 from the floor, 43.8 percent from 3-point range and 82.6 percent from the free throw line as they improved to 17-2 on the season and advanced to the Elite Eight for the fourth time in program history.
Qua Grant finished with a career-high 40 points, the fourth most in a single game in program history, after going 12-of-22 from the floor, 7-of-15 from 3-point range and 9-of-9 from the charity stripe. Joel Murray had 24 points with seven rebounds while Jon'il Fugett and Zach Toussaint both reached double figures with 13 and 12 respectively.
Both teams shot over 50 percent from the floor in the opening eight minutes of the game as WT trailed 22-19 following a layup from LCU's Lloyd Daniels. They would trail by as much as four two minutes later on a fast break 3-pointer from Parker Hicks.
Grant had seen enough as he made back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game at 27-all heading into the under 8-minute media timeout. WT would outscore the Chaps 18-8 over the next four minutes to push the lead to double figures for the first time, 45-35, on a jumper from Murray.
LCU would respond with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to four, 45-41, but WT would finish the half with 3-pointers from Toussaint and Grant to put the Buffs up 56-46 at the intermission.
Grant continued to punish the Chaps from deep in the opening four minutes of the second half with a pair of 3-pointers to keep the lead in double figures, 64-54. Kavon Booker had an impressive putback on one of his career-high 10 rebounds to make it a six-point game, 67-61, 13 minutes remaining in regulation.
Blankley hit one of the biggest shots of the game at the 10:18 mark as the Chaps were gaining momentum until the sophomore connected on his second 3-pointer to kickstart a 9-0 run for the Buffs. Grant followed with a pair of free throws followed by another jumper from Murray. Grant finished the drive with a jumper of his own to make it 80-65.
Another 5-0 run from the Chaps was ended with a 3-pointer from Toussaint followed by an old-fashioned 3-point play from Murray. It was an eight-point game, 91-83, with less than three minutes remaining when J. Fugett elevated to tip in a miss to push the lead back to double figures. Grant would make four straight free throws in the final minute to become just the sixth player in program history to score 40 or more points in a game.
The NCAA DII Men's Basketball Committee will announce the seeding for the Elite Eight on Wednesday, March 17.
