CANYON, Texas – For the second-consecutive season, the West Texas A&M men's basketball team advanced to the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championship after defeating Dallas Baptist, 60-54. With the win, the Buffs improve to 28-4 overall.
 
WT will meet No. 6-nationally and third-seeded Colorado Mesa at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19 for the regional title.
 
The Leaders
Two Buffs reached double-digit scoring on Sunday night led by a team-high 16 from Larry Wise. Ryland Holt was the only other Buff to reach double figures, scoring 11 points. Ahamed Mohammed pulled in a game-high nine rebounds and four assists. Holt blocked a pair of shots while making a steal in the win.
 
How It Happened
DBU took an early lead on a three and continued to hold WT off the scoreboard, keeping the home crowd quiet. Despite the Buffs making multiple runs to try and tie the game, the Patriots kept the lead. With an anxious crowd, Mohammed made a leaping save on a ball going out of bounds, finding an open Brock Mishak at the three-point line. Miskak settled and buried the three, reigniting Buff Nation. With 6:56 to play in the first half, Ryland Holt knocked down a three in transition to put WT up for the first time. The Patriots answered back to tie the game, but a 6-3 run by the Buffs to end the half put WT up three.
 
After Toussaint knocked down a shot from behind the arc, DBU rattled off an 8-0 run to regain the advantage. The Buffs took the lead once again on back-to-back shots from Journee Phillips and Kieran Elliott over the span of 28 seconds. The Patriots kept the offense rolling as a 7-0 streak gave DBU a five-point lead. With just over 10 minutes to play and the home crowd backing the Buffs, WT put together a 9-0 run of its own to take a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
 
Back-and-forth action over the following minutes allowed the Buffs to take a four-point advantage into the final two minutes. With 1:56 to play, Mishak nailed another three-pointer to put WT up by seven. Four points from the Patriots brought the game within a possession with 30 seconds to play. With the shot clock winding down, Mohammed put up a three attempt, but the Patriots fouled the sophomore guard in the process. Mohammed stepped to the line and put the game away with three free throws.
 
Inside the Box Score

• WT leads the all-time series, 10-1, 7-1 in Canyon.
• Head coach Tom Brown moves to 8-1 against the Patriots.
• WT shot 34.9% (22-of-63) from the field, 28.6% (6-of-21) from deep, 90.9% from the charity stripe with 46 rebounds, nine assists, three steals, two blocks, and 10 turnovers.
• Dallas Baptist shot 35.6% (21-of-59) from the floor, 25.0% (5-of-20) from the 3-point range, 77.8% at the free throw line with 33 rebounds, four assists, four steals, two blocks, and eight turnovers.

 
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