WISCONSIN DELLS, WISCONSIN – West Texas A&M Men's Basketball (1-0, 0-0 LSC) captured a season opening victory against receiving votes Lincoln Memorial by score of 75-63 Saturday afternoon. WT used a strong defensive performance as they held the Railsplitters to 36.5% from the field and 19% from three in the game.
The opening seven minutes of the game was a back-and-forth battle with neither team able to hold more than a possession lead. LMU would slowly build up a five-point lead after a layup to set the score at 16-11. At the 10:37 mark,
James Parlow Jr. had a steal and score on a fast break to cut the deficit to two points. Two minutes later, a jumper by
Max George tied the game at 17, which was followed by a triple from
Ben Walton to give WT the lead with 8:16 left in the half. The run continued for the Buffaloes as
Ryder Cheesman finished inside and free throws by
Jailyn Sledge capped off the 11-0 over a three-minute span. West Texas A&M held firm on that lead the remainder of the half as Parlow capped off the first 20 minutes with an and-one in the paint giving WT a 38-31 halftime lead.
The Buffs opened up the second half with a 6-0 run, pushing their lead to 13. They held Lincoln Memorial without a bucket for the first three and a half minutes of the first half. WT kept growing their lead as Walton cashed another three to extend the lead to 19 with 14 minutes left to play. West Texas A&M continued to break the game open as they held a lead as big as 22. Lincoln Memorial got as close as 11 points the rest of the way, but WT halted their momentum with timely makes. The score would finalize with the Buffs coming out on top with a 75-63 win. On the defensive end, WT held the Railsplitters to 34.6% shooting in the second half with only two made threes.
Top Buffs
- James Parlow Jr. led WT with 17 points on an efficient 8/13 shooting. Parlow Jr. added five rebounds, three steals, and an assist.
- Ryder Cheesman stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points (6/12), seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Four of those rebounds were offensive and he made three of his four free throws.
- Logan Gibson went 3/3 from the field as he tallied eight points and four rebounds. He added a block and steal in his 14 minutes.
Buffalo Bits
- West Texas A&M is now 3-0 all-time against Lincoln Memorial.
- WT led the game in field goal percentage (50-34.6), rebounds (36-31), assists (11-7), points in the paint (50-30), points off turnovers (20-12), second chance points (17-10), and fast break points (21-14).
- Max George tallied eight points, one rebound, and two assists while shooting 4/7.
- Jailyn Sledge also chipped in eight points (3/5) to go with four boards, and a steal.
- Ben Walton drained two threes as he scored eight points with two assists.
- Zach Brown recorded five points and two rebounds.
- Austin Prosser grabbed five rebounds while adding two points.
- Sean Jimmy-Ducksworth scored four points.
- Ryder Cheesman, Logan Gibson, Joel Robinson, Ben Walton, Max George, Sean Jimmy-Ducksworth, and Austin Prosser all made their Buff debut. Gibson, Robinson, Walton, George, Jimmy-Ducksworth, and Prosser also made their collegiate debuts.
Up Next
West Texas A&M returns to action tomorrow as they take on Central Oklahoma for their second game in the Midwest Tip-Off Classic. Tip-off is set for 3:45 p.m.
For all the latest on West Texas A&M Men's Basketball, stay tuned to
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