Foul-plagued Hounds bow to rival Buffs

Staff report

CANYON, Texas — Freshman guard David Chavlovich led four West Texas A&M players in double figures with 26 points and the Buffaloes defeated Eastern New Mexico University 96-86 on Saturday in the Lone Star Conference and regular-season finale for both teams.

Senior Miles Gatewood added 24 points, senior Tez Dumar 20 and senior Antjuan Ball had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Buffs (17-11, 7-7 LSC), who missed 23 of their 48 free throw attempts but shot 54 percent from the floor and hit 9-of-21 from 3-point range.

ENMU was whistled for 36 fouls compared to 18 for WT and lost three players to personals.

Junior guard John Gilliam scored 19 points for the last-place Greyhounds (7-20, 0-14), who will face either Tarleton State or Angelo State in next week’s LSC tournament at Allen, Texas.

Senior guard Michael Randle finished with 16 points, junior guard Chris Wyms had 13 points and five assists and senior forward Seth Bailey added 11 points off the bench, including a trio of 3-pointers.

WT jumped off to a 7-2 lead on a dunk by Ball, but the Hounds rallied for a pair of one-point leads before Ball’s layup put the Buffs in front for good with 10:52 left in the half.

Bailey had three 3-pointers in the final nine minutes of the half, including one with 25 seconds to go to keep the Hounds within 41-35 at t he half.

The Buffs opened the second stanza on a 10-2 run, including five points from Ball to push the lead in to double figures for the first time. The margin reached 61-45 with 13 1/2 minutes left after a basket by Chavlovich.

ENMU got within nine on two free throws by Wyms with 7:09 to go. The Hounds were unable to get closer than seven in the waning moments as the Buffs — under 50 percent from the line to that point — made six of their last seven in the final 1 1/2 minutes.