CANYON, Texas – In a game that saw 14 lead changes and 14 ties, the West Texas A&M men's basketball team saw its season come to a close in heartbreaking fashion on Tuesday night in the South Central Regional Championship game. The Buffs, winners of the Lone Star Conference regular season and tournament titles, end the 2022-23 season with an overall record of 27-7.
After the game,
Damion Thornton and
Julius Brown were named to the South Central Region All-Tournament team.
The Leaders
Damion Thornton posted his best game as a Buff on Tuesday, scoring a game-high 29 points on 10-15 shooting from the field, 4-4 from three, and 5-6 from the free throw line. Thornton also pulled in a team-high six rebounds to go along with two steals, an assist, and a blocked shot.
Larry Wise also reached double digits, scoring 19 points.
How It Happened
Black Hills State jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game in front of 2,576 fans inside the First United Bank Center. After a timeout, WT responded with a 12-0 run of its own to take the lead and reigniting the crowd. The Yellow Jackets quieted the crowd once more, ripping off another 7-0 streak to regain the advantage. The Buffs pulled ahead with five minutes before halftime as Thornton scored six-consecutive points for WT. A three from Wise with 1:38 remaining in the half brought the score once more. A made free throw by Wise temporarily put the Buffs up by one until South Central Regional Tournament MVP Joel Scott tied the game on a free throw of his own. After 20 minutes of play, neither team found a definitive advantage.
Coming out of halftime, Black Hills State started the second period on a 10-5 run to take a five-point advantage. The Yellow Jackets held the lead until
Addison Wallace converted a shot from deep with 7:40 remaining in regulation. WT remained in the lead until a pair of free throws by Matthew Ragsdale tied and took the lead with 5:38 to play. From that point on the game went back and forth down to the final seconds.
After a missed layup by the Buffs with 37 seconds remaining, Black Hills State went down the court and called a timeout with 11 seconds. After the timeout, the Yellow Jackets went inside to Scott once again where the senior drew a foul. Scott missed the first free throw but sank the second to put Black Hills State up one. With 3.9 seconds left, Thornton went down the floor and hit a step-back jump shot. After a review, the made shot came after time expired, allowing the Yellow Jackets to take the game by one point.
Inside the Box Score
- BHSU leads the all-time series 0-2 overall, 0-1 in Canyon.
- Head coach Tom Brown moves to 0-2 against the Yellow Jackets.
- WT shot 35.5% (22-of-62) from the field, 40.9% (9-of-22) from deep, 82.4% (14-of-17) from the charity stripe with 27 rebounds, nine assists, five steals, one block, and five turnovers.
- BHSU shot 55.6% (25-of-45) from the floor, 45.5% (5-of-11) from the 3-point range, 76.5% (13-of-17) at the free throw line with 35 rebounds, 12 assists, three blocks, one steal and 18 turnovers.
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