CANYON, Texas – Senior Larry Wise scored a game-high 30 points as the West Texas A&M men's basketball team defeated Illinois Springfield 88-73 at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock, Texas. The Buffs, now 1-0 have won seven of their last eight season openers under head coach Tom Brown.

The Leaders
Three Buffs reached double figures led by Wise's 30 points to go along with four assists and seven rebounds. Ryland Holt followed Wise with 18 points while Noah Pagotto scored 11 while bringing in seven rebounds.
 
How It Happened
Both teams started slowly before the Buffs found their stride after the first media timeout. WT gained the advantage as Wise went on a 6-0 run by himself to put the Buffs up four. After a Prairie Stars' bucket, WT took off on an 8-1 run. The Buffs found their biggest lead of the first half at 17 points when Holt made a free throw with 4:25 remaining in the half. Illinois Springfield attempted to cut the WT lead down before the half but trailed 48-34 going into the locker room.
 
After halftime, the Buffs and Prairie Stars exchanged points in the opening minute of the half. A quick nine-point run for WT pushed its advantage back to 18 points, but UIS brought the difference down immediately after. With 12 and a half minutes to play, the Prairie Stars cut the lead down to 12 points. The Buffs responded by pushing their lead to 15. Over the game's closing minutes, WT sustained its lead to defeat UIS.
 
Inside the Box Score

• WT leads the all-time series 1-0
• Head coach Tom Brown moves to 1-0 against the Prairie Stars.
• WT shot 46.9% (30-of-64) from the field, 30.0% (6-of-20) from deep, 88.0% from the charity stripe with 37 rebounds, 10 assists, seven steals, one block, and 10 turnovers.
• UIS shot 44.1% (26-of-59) from the floor, 35.7% (5-of-14) from the 3-point range, 76.2% at the free throw line with 33 rebounds, nine assists, two blocks, one steal, and 15 turnovers.

 
Up Next
WT battles Southeastern Oklahoma State for their second game of the Tipoff Classic on Sunday, November 5 at 2:30 p.m.
 
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