CANYON, Texas – The Buffaloes of West Texas A&M (7-4, 5-0 LSC) remain undefeated in Lone Star Conference play after they scrapped past Midwestern State (4-7, 2-4 LSC), 72-71, on Friday night inside the First United Bank Center. 
 
The Leaders
Junior Larry Wise led the Buffs offense with 25 points after the 6-foot-4 guard shot 7-of-16 from the field, 5-of-11 from the deep, and 6-of-6 at the charity stripe to go along with four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block. Senior Julius Brown was the Buffs second-leading scorer with 19 points and a team-high three assists followed by Zach Toussaint with 10 points while Brock Mishak led with five boards.
 
How It Happened
After falling behind 11-4 in the opening five minutes of action, the Buffs compiled an 8-2 run to take the lead after Julius Brown connected with Larry Wise from the 3-point range at the 11:40 mark. The two Lone Star Conference members went back-and-forth over next three minutes before Zach Toussaint came up with the floating shot in the paint to put the Buffs ahead before Wise followed up with the second-chance dunk to take the four-point lead, 23-19. 
 
Freshman Brock Mishak extended the score out to nine, 35-26, with his first shot from the deep before the lead reach double figures with Wise's fourth 3-pointer of the half. With 34-seconds on the clock, Jermane Carter drove through the defense for two to make it 40-29 at the half in favor of the Buffs.
 
The Buffs held on in the second half despite the Mustangs rally when MSU brought the game within five with seven minutes left of regulation. Brown drove up the lane for two, but the Mustangs quickly responded with the fastbreak layup to keep the score within seven.  The lead was threatened with less than 45-seconds on the clock but Derrick Ogechi's three at the buzzer wasn't enough to force an overtime. 
 
The Stats
WT shot 44.4% (28-of-63), from the field, 34.5% (10-of-29) from the deep and 75% (6-of-8) from the free throw line to go along with 29 rebounds, seven assists, seven steals, eight turnovers, and one block by Wise.
 
The Mustangs went 27-of-53 (50.9%) from the field, 7-of-16 (43.8%) from the 3-point range, and 10-of-13 (76.9%) at the charity stripe while totaling 34 rebounds, eight assists, and 15 turnovers. Four players reached double figures led by Derrick Ogechi with 20 points while Jermane Carter brought down a game-high eight rebounds.
 
UP NEXT
The Buffs will return to the First United Bank Center on Sunday, Jan. 1 to lead off the New Year with a game against the Cameron Aggies scheduled for 3 p.m. CT. Sunday's game is sponsored by The People's Federal Credit Union.
 
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