The buzzer-beater before halftime Friday night in the opening game was more of a capper to a great first half for the Buffaloes in an eventual one-sided victory. But the one West Texas A&M got Saturday proved to have more of an impact in advancing to the next round at the Lone Star Conference Men’s Basketball Championship.
A 30-footer from Ryan Quaid, just his ninth 3-pointer of the season, not only gave top-seeded WT a halftime advantage, but the momentum needed to knock off No. 4 seed Texas A&M-Commerce, 73-63, Saturday night at Dr Pepper Arena.
The win moves the top-seeded Buffaloes into Sunday’s LSC Championship final at 3:30 p.m. against No. 2 seed UT Permian Basin. It will be WT’s first trip the tournament final since 2006. The game will be streamed on ESPN3 and available through the ESPN App as part of the Division II Basketball Showcase.
Friday night, it was All-LSC first-teamer David Chavlovich who drilled a deep 3-pointer to give WT a 30-point lead against Eastern New Mexico in an 86-70 victory. But on Saturday,
the Buffaloes needed a spark from Quaid before the half, and used that play to start the second half on an 11-4 in the first five minutes to take control of the game.
Back-to-back layups by Jordan Evans pushed the WT lead to 51-37 with 7:38 to play, but the Lions wouldn’t go away. Thanks to the play of guard Reggie Reid the Lions got the lead down to seven with 4:28 remaining.
That’s when Chavlovich took over, making big plays down the stretch, including a deep 3-pointer with the shot clock running down, a layup in the paint and then an offensive rebound in the lane that led to another basket for a teammate. Chavlovich did give the WT faithful a brief scare late in the game, going to the ground in pain, holding his right calf. The apparent cramp injury kept the star player out for the rest of the game, but not before he scored a game-high 23 points.
Three other Buffaloes scored in double figures, including 13 each from Evans and Quaid, who also grabbed 11 rebounds. CJ Jennings added 10 points.
Reid led all scorers with 26 points, while Willie Rooks had 11 for the Lions, who made just 4 of 25 3-point attempts.
Commerce falls to 21-8 but will now shift its focus to next week’s regional tournament. The Lions were ranked fifth in last week’s regional rankings and should have a spot in the middle of the pack for the regional, which could likely be hosted by the winner of Sunday’s final between West Texas and UT Permian Basin.
West Texas A&M Notes
- West Texas A&M improves to 34-19 in the Lone Star Conference Tournament overall
- Buffs are now 53-32 all-time against the Lions
- WT will now advance to their league-leading 12th LSC Tournament Final
- Buffs out-rebounded the Lions 46-33 in the game
- WT scored 15 fast break points to just two for TAMUC
- Ryan Quaid finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the 2017-18 season
- David Chavlovich led the Buffs in scoring with 23 points, marking the 15th time this season he has scored at least 20 points in a game
Texas A&M Commerce Notes
- Texas A&M Commerce is now 30-35 all-time in the Lone Star Conference Championships.
- The Lions are now 1-2 this season against West Texas A&M, having lost 86-82 in Canyon with a 67-66 win in Commerce in the final week of the regular season.
- Averaging 8.3 three-pointers per game, Commerce was just 4-25 (16 percent) from beyond the arc on the night.
- Held West Texas A&M to its fourth-lowest point total of the season with 73 points.
- Reggie Reid carried the Lions in the second half, scoring 20 of his team-leading 26 points after halftime as the game's leading scorer.
- The Lions ended the night just 11-19 at the free throw line, while West Texas A&M hit 13-of-14 from the line, all in the second half.