LUBBOCK, Texas – The West Texas A&M men's basketball team secured the outright Lone Star Conference regular season champions with an 84-77 victory over Lubbock Christian. The Buffs earn the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and carry a 22-6 overall record into the postseason.
 
The Leaders
Julius Brown led WT in scoring with 19 points to go along with five rebounds and four steals. Three other Buffs reached double digits as Larry Wise scored 13, Damion Thornton added in 11, and Zach Toussaint chipped in 10. Thornton pulled in a game-high nine rebounds, coming one rebound shy of a double-double for the second game in a row. Brown posted a game-high four assists while Wise blocked two shots.
 
How It Happened
The Buffs jumped out to their first lead of the night one minute and 13 seconds into the game on Wise's first three pointer of the day. The Chaps brought the game within two a few minutes later, but a 6-0 run added to the WT lead. With seven minutes before halftime, Ahamed Mohammed's three put the Buffs up by 11 and started a run of three-straight threes made. As the clock went under a minute before the midway point, Wise sank another three to give WT a 33-20 advantage.
 
The Buffs kept their double-digit advantage for the opening minutes of the second half, stretching the lead to as much as 17. A 7-0 Chap run over a two-minute span brought the WT lead down to five with 12:38 remaining in the game. LCU kept the game within single digits until a three by Mohammed at the 7:18 mark. Although the Chaps brought the game within striking distance, the Buffs held onto their lead. In the closing minutes, LCU attempted to spoil the WT's day but ran out of time in the end.
 
Inside the Box Score

• WT leads the all-time series 22-8, 10-4 in Canyon.
• Head coach Tom Brown moves to 9-7 against the Chaps.
• WT shot 46.3% (25-of-54) from the field, 33.3% (9-of-27) from deep, 78.1% (25-of-32) from the charity stripe with 30 rebounds, 10 assists, seven steals, four blocks, and six turnovers.
• LCU shot 50.0% (25-of-50) from the floor, 47.4% (9-of-19) from 3-point range, 90.0% (18-of-20) at the free throw line with 29 rebounds, four assists, four steals, and 14 turnovers.

 
Up Next
WT faces the eight-seed, Eastern New Mexico, in the first round of the LSC tournament at 6 p.m. at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.
 
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