The West Texas A&M Buffaloes hit a two-game skid fell to fourth-ranked Tarleton State with a final score of 87-63 on Jan. 22 at the First United Bank Center of Canyon before dropping to Texas A&M-Commerce in Commerce, 93-84 on Jan. 25. Despite the defeats, West Texas A&M’s senior guard Drimir Ferguson’s scored a game-high 31 points against the Lions.
At home against Tarleton, the Texans scored two early three pointers and a fast break layup to start the game leading the Buffs 8-0. It was senior guard Drimir Ferguson who would put the first points on the board for the Buffs. The Texans kept attacking, as they led by as much as 17 points in the game. The Buffs never gave up, and they slowly began to cut away at the impressive Texan lead. At the eight-minute media timeout, the Buffs showed promise having cut the lead to 32-23.
Buffalo junior forward Antjuan Ball slam-dunked coming out of the timeout. With 4:20 left in the first half, junior guard Tez Dumars and senior guard David Gibbs both connected on three point shots to cut the Texan lead to 38-33 with 3:01 left. A few fast breaks later, the Buffs were within four points going into the break 43-39.
The Buffaloes were led at half by junior guard Keon Pledger with nine points three rebounds and three assists followed by Dumars and Ferguson with seven points each. Duncan and Ball each had five points as the Buffs went 16-28 from the floor including 4-7 from three point range and 3-9 from the foul line.
The teams traded buckets to start the second half before the Texans began to pull away. The Texan lead was 13 at the 13:20 mark following a slam-dunk by Ball. This would be the closest the Buffs would get for the remainder of the game as the Texans depth proved to be too much.
Ball and Pledger led the Buffs with 11 points each. Dumars had 10 while Ferguson and Duncan scored 9 each. West Texas A&M went 25-of-52 from the floor including 5-of-14 from three-point-range as well as 8-15 from the line to shoot a measly 48%.
On Jan. 25, the Lions jumped in front early leading 7-3 with 18:05 in the first half. A three pointer from Gatewood would spark a Buffs run that gave them a 12-8 lead. The Lions would take the lead back 18-13 with 11:06 remaining. Buffs slowly fought back, and an Antjuan Ball dunk cut the lead to 31-30 with 5:24 left in the first half. Commerce finished the first half with a strong run and led the Buffs 44-40 at half.
Ferguson led the Buffs at the break with 18 points going 4-5 from the floor and completing seven of his nine free throws. Junior guard Tez Dumars ended the first half with 12 points. WT was 12-22 in the first half shooting 54.5% from the floor.
The teams exchanged buckets early in the second half, but the Lions led by 11 with 15 minutes to play in the first half. An inside the paint jumper from WT junior forward Barry Robertson would cut the lead to 66-64 with 7:56 to play. A Ferguson would later get the Buffs to within one point at 73-72 with 5:41 on the clock. Lions finished the game on a run and took the win 93-84.
Ferguson led the Buffs offensively with a game high 31 points and five assists. Dumars scored 19 for the Buffs followed by Gatewood with 10. The Buffs shot 26-53 from the floor 10-20 from beyond the arc and 22-29 from the stripe.
The struggling Buffs drop to 8-9 (1-5, LSC) while the Texans maintain their undefeated record as of Jan. 25 at 17-0 (6-0, LSC) and the Lions improve to 13-5 (2-4, LSC).
The Buffs return to the First United Bank Center in Canyon for their final non-conference matchup against the Hardrockers of South Dakota School of Mines. Tipoff for the game is set for 7 p.m.
