FRISCO, Texas – The West Texas A&M men's basketball team secured their sixth-consecutive Lone Star Conference on
Zach Toussaint's game-winner with less than three seconds left in the game. With the win, the Buffs (25-6) earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Following the game,
Julius Brown,
Damion Thornton, and
Zach Toussaint earned All-Tournament honors with Toussaint earning the tournament MVP.
The Leaders
Larry Wise led WT with 16 points and five rebounds.
Damion Thornton recorded a double-double in the win, scoring 10 points and hauling in a game-high 13 rebounds.
Julius Brown and
Zach Toussaint added in 11 points each while
Ryland Holt chipped in 10.
How It Happened
The teams started the contest by exchanging points until Holt made the layup and drew the foul. Holt sank the ensuing free throw and gave the Buffs their first lead of the afternoon. The Rams held WT close until the top-seeded Buffs rattled off an 11-2 run to take a double-digit advantage. WT stretched its lead to a first half-high 17 points when
Ahamed Mohammed knocked down a triple from the corner. A short 5-0 streak by Angelo State in the final 17 seconds of the half closed the gap to 12, but the Buffs took a 12-point lead into the locker room.
Coming out of halftime, WT continued to hold an advantage despite multiple Angelo State attacks. Wise converted a three-point shot with 8:37 left in the game to put the Buffs up nine. Following that bucket, Angelo State rattled off a 14-0 run over a seven-minute span. When the Rams looked to be in position to start closing the game out, Toussaint hit a shot from deep to cut the lead down to two with 1:18 to go. Two turnovers by each team drained the clock and forced WT to start the fouling process. A pair of free throws by Devaughn Thomas placed Angelo State up four with less than 30 seconds to go.
On WT's next possession, the Buffs missed their shot and sent the Rams to the free throw line once again. Angelo State missed the front end of a one-and-one, allowing WT to grab the rebound. On the way down the court,
Larry Wise put up a three that didn't fall but drew the shooting foul. Wise stepped up and knocked down all three foul shots, bringing the game within one with six seconds to go. The Rams made a crucial mistake inbounding the ball, throwing it out without a touch and turning the ball over to WT. With the Buffs' looking to take the lead, Toussaint tossed the ball in, curled a screen, and calmly knocked down the shot. The Rams committed another turnover where Toussaint drew another foul. After missing the first shot, the junior missed the second and grabbed the rebound to run out the clock.
Inside the Box Score
- WT leads the all-time series 54-26 with a 4-0 record at neutral sites.
- Head coach Tom Brown moves to 16-5 against the Rams.
- WT shot 39.6% (21-of-53) from the field, 30.0% (6-of-20) from deep, 76.2% (16-of-21) from the charity stripe with 29 rebounds, six assists, six steals, three blocks, and 14 turnovers.
- ASU shot 40.7% (22-of-54) from the floor, 35.0% (7-of-20) from the 3-point range, 80.0% (12-of-15) at the free throw line with 36 rebounds, five assists, three blocks, three steals and 22 turnovers.
- The Buffs won their sixth straight and 12th overall LSC Tournament title.
Up Next
WT finds out their seeding for the NCAA Tournament tonight with the NCAA Selection Show starting at 10 p.m. on NCAA.com.
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