LAREDO, Texas – The No. 24 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M improved to 6-2 on the season and 4-0 in Lone Star Conference action after defeating Texas A&M International (6-4, 1-3 LSC), 71-62, on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Leaders
Damion Thornton led the Buffs offense for the third time on the season with a season- and game-high 24 points The senior from Oklahoma went 9-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe with a pair of 3-pointers to go with three rebounds, three steals, and three assists. Larry Wise followed with 12 points followed by Julius Brown with 11 with Brown grabbing a team-high four boards. 
 
How It Happened
Texas A&M International jumped out to a quick lead before the Buffs leveled the score at 10-all with Thornton dishing out the pass to freshman Ahamed Mohammed for the layup. At 9:08, Thornton put WT on top with the fade-away to make it a 20-19 game before the Dustdevils responded with a 7-0 run to take back the lead. 
 
Wise brought the score within one, 31-30, with a shot from the deep followed by a free throw from Jesse Iweze to tie the game. TAMIU grabbed a 37-33 with 40-seconds remaining in the first half until Journee Phillips' layup posted two to the board to cut the Dustdevils lead to two. 
 
Back-and-forth action led off the opening eight minutes of the final half before Thornton registered his 20^thpoint of the game to ignite an 11-2 run, giving the Buffs a 9-point lead, 62-53. The Buffs lead would get as high as 11, 66-55, after Julius Brown drove up the lane for two for the senior to enter double figures. 
 
The Stats
WT shot 40.4% (21-for-52) from the field, 31.6% from beyond the arc while going 23-for-29 (79.3%) from the charity stripe with 21 rebounds, nine steals, three blocks and 10 turnovers.  
 
TAMIU went 20-for-43 (46.5%) from the floor, 21-for-24 (91.3%) from the line and 1-for-6 from the three to go along with 25 boards, 13 assists, five steals, four blocks and 16 turnovers. Tyrese Davis led the Dustdevils offense with 15 points with six rebounds followed by Lonzo Rand who scored 11 points. 
 
Up Next 
WT will compete in the South Point Hotel Holiday Hoops Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. On Dec. 18-19. The Buffs will take on Missouri-St. Louis on Sunday afternoon before facing Dominican on Monday.