LAS VEGAS, Nev. – No. 24 West Texas A&M (6-4, 4-0 LSC) lost to No. 21 Dominican (11-1, 3-0 CACC), 83-82, on Monday afternoon in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic finale at the South Point Hotel, finishing the tournament 0-2. 
 
The Leaders
Three players reach double figures led by senior guard Damion Thornton with 22. He went 7-of-14 from the floor and 8-of-10 at the free throw line with two rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. Zach Toussaint followed with 18 points and freshman Brock Mishak dropped 12 while Toussaint and Journee Phillips each brought down four boards. 
 
How It Happened
The opening seven minutes went back-and-forth with neither team grasping a substantial lead until WT strung together a 10-0 run to lead 16-10 led by five points from Zach Toussaint and Brock Mishak. 
 
The Buffs trimmed the Chargers lead down to two after Ryland Holt pulled up with a shot from the deep to post his first points of the game followed by Mishak's classic three-point play to make it 36-34. With under three minutes to go in the half, Addison Wallace drove up the paint for two, leveling the board at 36-all.  
 
Javel Cherry's second-chance jumper pushed Dominican's lead back to three until Holt beat the buzzer with a shot from the 3-point range to head into the locker room tied, 43-43. 
 
WT took hold of a 50-45 lead with a 3-pointer from Wallace until the Chargers answered with a 6-1 run to even the score, 51-all.  Dominican took control of the game, extending its lead out to as high as seven, 62-55, before the streak was snapped by Toussaint's shot from the deep. 
 
At the 6:54 mark, Damion Thornton drove up the lane for two to put the Buffs back on top, 69-68. Jaden Honis went 2-of-2 at the line to push the Chargers ahead by four, 79-75, before the Edmond, Okla. product scored six straight points for the Buffs. 
 
Toussaint landed one free throw with nine seconds left of regulation, but Cherry would become the game hero when the 6-foot-3 guard sank the winning three to capture the Top 25 win. 
 
The Stats
WT shot 49.1% (28-of-57), from the field, 40% (6-of-15) from the deep and 80% (20-of-25) from the line to go along with 24 rebounds, 16 assists, eight steals, three blocks and 11 turnovers.
 
The Chargers shot 51% (25-of-49) from the field, 40% (6-of-15) from the 3-point range, and 93.1% at the charity stripe while totaling 33 rebounds, 14 assists, six blocks, five steals and 21 turnovers. Five players reached double figures led by Javel Cherry with 18 points while Seth Sharif-Brown brought down a game-high seven boards and Brandt Roundtree had four blocks.  
 
UP NEXT
The Buffs will return to league action on Friday, Dec. 30 when they host the Midwestern State Mustangs at the First United Bank Center before leading off the New Year with a game against the Cameron Aggies on Sunday, Jan. 1. 
 
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