LUBBOCK, Texas – A career-high 39 points from Larry Wise powered the No. 4-ranked West Texas A&M men's basketball team past Lone Star Conference rival Lubbock Christian, 96-91. The Buffs move their record to 26-2 overall and 20-1 in Lone Star Conference play.

Wise's scoring total moved the Waxahachie, Texas native into sixth on the all-time scoring list with 1,578 points. In addition to being a career-high, Wise becomes the seventh player in WT history to score 39 or more points and ties Simmie Hill for the seventh-highest single-game scoring total.
 
The Leaders
Three Buffs reached double-digit scoring on Thursday night highlighted by a game-high 39 from Larry Wise. Ryland Holt (20) and Kieran Elliott (19) also ended their night in double figures. Holt and Ahamed Mohammed pulled in eight rebounds each while Zach Toussaint dished out three assists.  
 
How It Happened
After a back-and-forth opening minutes, an 8-0 run from the Buffs created a seven-point lead at the first media timeout of the night. Of WT's first 13 points, Wise accounted for 10 of those, reaching double figures early in the game. After the Buffs built up an 11-point lead, a 15-0 run from LCU erased the deficit and put the Chaps in the lead. With the LCU crowd growing increasingly louder, the Buffs stormed back to tie the game on a free throw from Elliott with 3:12 left in the half. Over the final three minutes, the Chaps outscored WT 8-4 to lead by four at the half.
 
After halftime, both teams came out of the locker room with hot shooting. Despite shooting the ball well to start the half, LCU continued to hold the advantage. WT didn't let the deficit slow the offense as a jumper by Elliott with 13:08 tied the game at 61. After the Buffs held a momentary lead, the Chaps regained control with just under 10 minutes to play. Over the next six minutes, the two teams exchanged the lead. In a span of 16 seconds, Wise converted back-to-back three-point plays to put WT up four. With two and a half minutes to play, a three from Wise gave WT its biggest lead since the first half at seven points. Down the stretch, extended possessions and made free throws helped the Buffs come out of hostile territory with a hard-fought 96-91 victory over the Chaps.
 
Inside the Box Score

• WT leads the all-time series, 26-9, 11-4 in Lubbock.
• Head coach Tom Brown moves to 11-7 against the Chaps.
• WT shot 59.3% (32-of-54) from the field, 42.1% (8-of-19) from deep, 85.7% from the charity stripe with 29 rebounds, eight assists, five steals, three blocks, and 10 turnovers.
• LCU shot 54.5% (36-of-66) from the floor, 35.3% (6-of-17) from the 3-point range, 76.5% at the free throw line with 27 rebounds, seven assists, four steals, five blocks, and five turnovers.

 
Up Next
The Buffs and Chaps meet once again on Saturday, March 2 at 3 p.m. inside the First United Bank Center for the regular-season finale.
 
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