On Feb. 5, turnovers were the West Texas A&M Buffaloes’ Achilles heel as they fell to the Angelo State Rams 69-47 at the First United Bank Center in Canyon, before earning their tenth win of the season on Feb. 8 as they defeated the Javelinas of Texas A&M-Kingsville 58-51 at Kingsville.
The Buffs started strong, as senior guard Drimir Ferguson tossed the ball to senior guard David Gibbs for a three-point shot to open the game, as the Buffs led 8-7 at the first media timeout with 15:48 remaining in the first half of play. Angelo State kept it close, tying the game 13-13 with 11:56 left. The Buffs trailed 23-22 at the final media timeout of the half, but the Rams would come out of the timeout with a 7-0 run to lead 31-28 at the break.
The Buffs kept it close for the opening minutes of the first half, and only to trail 48-38 with 12:16 to play. The Buffs then fell apart, committing the better half of their 20 turnovers in the second half. A 6:07 drought and a 6-0 run by the Rams would close out the game, resulting in an Angelo State victory.
On Feb. 8, the Javelinas jumped to an early lead before yielding seven points to the Buffs, cutting the lead to 11-9 with 12:00 to play in the first half. The Buffalo defense held the Javelinas scoreless for the final six minutes of the half.
WT started the second half strong and quickly took a 28-24 lead with 16:59 remaining. The second half was very close, but the Javelinas couldn’t hold off the Buffs, and WT came out on top 58-51.
Junior forward Antjuan Ball led the Buffs in their win against A&M Kingsville with a game high 14 points, 2 blocks and a steal. Junior forward David Duncan scored 12 points, and junior guard Tez Dumars had 10. The Buffs shot 22-52 from the floor and were 5-12 from the three point line. Rashad Basey led the Javelinas with 20 points. Javelinas were also led by Warren Daymon who had 15. The Javelinas shot 22-55 from the floor and 2-15 from three.
The Buffs remain steady at an overall mark of 10-11 (2-7, LSC) while the Rams improve to 16-5 overall (6-5, LSC) with wins over the Buffs and on Feb. 8 against Eastern New Mexico, as the Javelinas fell to 7-14 (2-7, LSC).
WT will face an uphill battle as they take on the Mustangs of Midwestern State, who are currently second in the LSC. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the D.L. Ligon Coliseum in Wichita Falls on Feb. 12.
The Buffs will return to the First United Bank Center against the Cameron Aggies on Feb. 15 with the tipoff scheduled at 4 p.m.
