CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M Buffaloes led by 10 points with just two minutes left to play before the Falcons of UT Permian Basin stormed back for a 41-40 overtime victory in Lone Star Conference action at Astound Broadband Stadium in Midland, Texas.
 
The Buffs took advantage of a special teams mistake early in the game as TJ Moore Jr. blocked a Falcon punt with Tory Simmons scooping up the ball and returning it for a touchdown for the 7-0 lead. The Falcons responded on their next drive with a march down the field capped off by a 38-yard field goal from Rafael Vargas.
 
The teams traded punts before the Buffs added to their lead with a four-yard strike by Kanon Gibson to Kris Sims for the 14-3 lead. The WT defense came up big again heading into the second half as Ty Dillon forced a fumble recovered near the sideline by Preston Steszewski to head into the locker room with the Buffs leading 14-3.
 
The WT defense made a big play again as Freddie Simmons picked off a Falcon pass that setup a 59-yard drive with Preston Gregg hitting a 49-yard field goal for the 17-3 lead. The UTPB offense responded as they went on a 75-yard drive with Kenny Hrnciar finding Ben Patterson from 19-yards out to cut the lead to 17-10.
 
The Buffaloes answered as they went 77-yards on 11 plays as Kanon Gibson found Isaiah Smallwood out of the backfield from nine yards out to make it 24-10. UTPB answered back with scoring drive of their own as Hrnciar found Jeremiah Cooley from 24-yards out to make it 24-17.
 
WT responded again with an 85-yard drive highlighted by 22-yard field goal by Gregg to extend the lead to 27-17. The Falcons answered back as they marched 75 yards capped off by an 18-yard touchdown pass from Hrnciar to Deon Cook to make it 27-24.
 
The Buffs would add to their lead on the next Buffalo possession as Gibson called his own number from 74-yards out as the freshman found his way to the endzone for the 34-24 lead. The Falcons wouldn't go down without a fight as they marched down the field to setup a Vargas 35-yard field goal to make it 34-27.
 
The Falcons made a big special teams play to recover an onside kick to setup a 52-yard drive capped off by a Hrnciar one-yard dive with just 16 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.
 
WT won the toss in overtime and elected to play defense first, the Falcons converted a fourth a long to setup a Hrnciar one-yard touchdown along with a PAT to make it 41-35. The Buffs responded on their offensive possession as Gibson found Kenneath Redd Jr. from five yards out, WT decided to roll the dice and attempt a two-point conversion attempt that was unsuccessful as the Buffs fell 41-40.

Gibson finished the game completing 23-of-26 passes for 197 yards and three touchdown while also carrying the ball 14 times for a team-high 123 yards and a score. Smallwood registered 40 yards on the ground on 15 carries while also catching a team-high five passes for 64 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Jimmy Harrison led the way with 10 total tackles (six solo) with 1.5 of those coming for a loss followed by Antonio Iwuagwu with five and Koby King and Stezsewski with four tackles each. 
 
The Buffs return home next weekend as they welcome the Western Oregon Wolves to Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium with kickoff set for 6:00 p.m. in Canyon.