The No. 1 seed in the Lone Star Conference Men’s Basketball Championship wasted no time seizing control of Friday’s nightcap quarterfinal game at Kitty Magee Arena.

      West Texas A&M, which won the LSC regular-season title outright on the final day of the season, blasted out of the gates against No. 8 Eastern New Mexico, taking a 30-point halftime lead before finally putting the Greyhounds away for an 86-70 win.  

      The Buffaloes (26-3) advance to Saturday night’s semifinal game against No. 4 seed Texas A&M-Commerce. WT is not only trying to win its first LSC Championship title since 2006, but hang on to the No. 1 regional ranking with the hopes of hosting the tournament in Canyon.

      Jordan Evans led the Buffs with 20 points, while three other starters finished in double figures. First-team All-LSC performer David Chavlovich finished 15 and both Gach Gach (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Ryan Quaid (12 points, 15 rebounds) had double-doubles. Freshman Gaige Prim nearly posted one as well with 13 points and nine boards.

      In the first half, WT jumped out to a 22-4 lead and thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Chavlovich, the Buffaloes went into the locker room with a 46-16 lead.  

      However, the Greyhounds were able to cut into the lead, thanks to Zach Parker, who had 14 second-half points to finish with a game-high 21. ENMU got to within 14 in the final minutes but couldn’t get any closer.

      Devin Pullum came off the bench to score 14, while Lamarquis Thompson added 16 and Jamani Pierce pitched in 10. The season ends for the Greyhounds at 11-17.

LSC MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Friday, March 2, 2018 at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas
SESSION THREE
Game 5: 1 p.m., 3) Tarleton State vs. 6) Cameron, TSU 63-49
Game 6: 3:30 p.m., 2) UT Permian Basin vs. 7) Midwestern State, UTPB 82-68
SESSION FOUR
Game 7: 6:00 p.m., 4) Texas A&M-Commerce vs. 5) Angelo State, A&M-C 76-63
Game 8: 8:30 p.m., 1) West Texas A&M vs. 8) Eastern New Mexico, WT 86-70
 
Saturday, March 3, 2018 at Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas
SESSION SIX
Game 11: 6:00 p.m., 3) Tarleton State vs. 2) UT Permian Basin
Game 12: 8:30 p.m., 4) Texas A&M-Commerce 7 vs. 1) West Texas A&M
 
Sunday, March 4, 2018 at Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas
SESSION SEVEN
Game 14: 3:30 p.m., Men’s Championship: Winner G11 vs. Winner G12