KINGSVILLE, Texas – The No. 24 West Texas A&M Buffs extended their win streak out to five with a 71-65 victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville to improve to 5-2 on the year and 3-0 in Lone Star Conference play while the Javelinas moved to 5-4 (1-2 LSC). 
 
The Leaders
Eight Buffs scored on Thursday with four players reaching double figures led by Damion Thornton with 18. The senior from Oklahoma went 4-for-9 from the floor and 10-for-11 from the charity stripe to go along with three rebounds and four assists. Zach Toussaint followed with 15 points while Julius Brown and Addison Wallace each had 10. Toussaint brought down a career-high eight rebounds to lead the Buffs while Brown had six assists. 
 
How It Happened
Julius Brown hit the step back in the opening 30-seconds to put the Buffs on the board before a pair of free throws for Avery Creighton led off a 6-0 run for the Javelinas. At 9:22, Brown ended a three-minute drought with two to make it 12-8 to ignite back-and-forth action. 
 
Zach Toussaint followed through with a classic three-point play after drawing the shooting foul to cut the Javelinas lead to one.  TAMUK immediately responded with four straight points led off by a layup from Kavon Booker to extend the lead back to five. The Buffs brought the score back within two when Toussaint spun through the defense to sink the shot to beat the buzzer at the half, 34-32. 
 
Just two minutes into the second half, WT took control of the game with a pull up jumper from Brown before Damion Thornton added two to the board to make it a four-point game. The Javelinas leveled the score at 40-all, but Ahamed Mohammed put the Buffs back on top with a three after connecting with a pass from Thornton. 
 
WT's lead would get as high as 11, 55-44, after Mohammed hit the shot from the deep followed by Cameron Bell's free throw at the line.  TAMUK trimmed the Buffs' lead down with 31-seconds left in the regulation, 68-65, with a layup from Booker but the defense held off the Javelinas to move to 3-0 in league play. 
 
The Stats
WT shot a season-high 41.5% (22-of-53) from the field and 36.8% (7-of-19) from beyond the arc while going 20-of-26 (76.9%) from the free throw line with 11 points coming off the bench to go along with 33 rebounds, 12 assists, six steals and four blocks. 
 
TAMUK shot 34.6% (18-of-52) from the floor, 25.0% (4-of-16) from the three, and 78.1% (25-of-32) from the charity stripe while grabbing 37 boards, five assists, eight steals and three blocks. CJ Smith led the Javelinas with 17 points and three steals followed by Booker with 15 points and eight rebounds.
 
Up Next 
The Buffs face Texas A&M International (5-3, 0-2 LSC) on Saturday, Dec. 10 at the TAMIU Kinesiology Convocation Building in Laredo, Texas. Following the weekend at the opposing A&M schools, WT will compete in the South Point Hotel Holiday Hoops Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. On Dec. 18-19.