CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M men's basketball team came up one point short of the MSU Denver Roadrunners despite a double-double from Kieran Elliott. With the 80-79 loss, the Buffs suffer their first loss of the season and move to 3-1 overall.

The Leaders
Larry Wise scored a team-high 21 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists. Elliott notched his first collegiate double-double as the Lubbock, Texas native scored 15 points with 15 rebounds, eight of which came on the offensive side of the court. Ryland Holt and Zach Toussaint also chipped in 12 points each.  
 
How It Happened
The Roadrunners came out hot, taking a three-point lead early in the first half. Before MSU Denver could settle into the driver's seat, the Buffs stormed back with a 7-0 run to take a lead. Although WT held a lead for a majority of the first period, the Roadrunners fought hard to chip away. The Buffs' lead reached as high as 11 points with three minutes to play in the opening half, but MSU Denver brought it down to seven before the break.
 
WT held onto the lead for the opening minutes of the second half despite a Roadrunner surge to open the half. After the Buffs extended their lead to double digits with 11:38 to play, MSU Denver went to work to bring the game back within reach. As the clock approached three minutes to play, the Roadrunners' KJ Garrett drew a foul and went to the line for a pair of free throws. Garrett converted both chances to give MSU Denver its first lead since the start of the game. After exchanging baskets, WT quickly regained the advantage as Larry Wise made a jumper with 29 seconds to play.
 
Garrett went back to work as the guard slipped in a layup with 17 seconds to play. A foul by the Roadrunners with 10 seconds to play gave the Buffs an opportunity to gain a three-point advantage once again. Ahamed Mohammed stepped up to the line where he made 1-of-2 to put WT up 79-77. MSU Denver inbounded the ball and advanced it down the court before calling timeout. On the inbounds pass, Brayden Maldonado used a screen to break free where he stepped back and drained the go-ahead bucket. With 1.5 seconds to play, the Buffs' heave down the court found Elliott, but the freshman couldn't find the angle for the winning bucket as his attempt hit the side of the backboard.
 
Inside the Box Score

• MSU Denver leads the all-time series, 2-0.
• Head coach Tom Brown moves to 0-1 against the Roadrunners.
• WT shot 44.6% (29-of-65) from the field, 29.2% (7-of-24) from deep, 66.7% from the charity stripe with 34 rebounds, nine assists, three steals, three blocks, and six turnovers.
• MSUD shot 53.7% (29-of-54) from the floor, 45.0% (9-of-20) from the 3-point range, 72.2% at the free throw line with 31 rebounds, nine assists, one block, three steals, and 12 turnovers.

 
Up Next
WT invites all fans to come out on Monday, Nov. 20 for a free exhibition with Wayland Baptist. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m. After the game, the Buffs will sign 2023-24 schedule posters.
 
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