By james art 
Tyler, Texas – The West Texas A&M men’s basketball team held off a second half comeback by the UT Tyler Patriots to secure a 79-71 Lone Star Conference win. The Buffs improve to 8-5 in conference play with a 13-6 mark overall on the season.
The leaders
Three amateurs reached double figures on Saturday afternoon, led by the 26 games of Noah Pagoto. Narit chotikavanic (18) and Ahamed Mohammed (16) also finished the day in double figures with each player grabbing five boards. Muhammad dished out three assists per game while Jailyn Sledge blocked two shots with two steals.
How it happened
UT Tyler opened the scoring with six unanswered points before a Mohammed free throw put WT on the board. Muhammad converted a drive for the Buffs’ first field goal of the afternoon. After the game’s first media timeout, both teams went dry for nearly four minutes of action before Muhammad’s jumper tied the game with 13 minutes to play in the half, followed by a layup to put WT on top for the first time. The Patriots would regain the lead, but a Bob Grichen A foul three brought the supporters back within five at the eight-minute media timeout. As the clock hit the five-minute mark, the Buffs went on an 8-0 run to take a five-point lead with three and a half to play in the period. Before the half is over, Mackenzie Morgan I found Pagotto for a layup to send the fans into the locker room with a 39-30 lead.
After halftime, the Buffs extended their lead to double digits with four quick points. WT’s lead hovered around the 10-point mark until a 5-0 run by UT Tyler brought the game back within six in a sub-12 minute timeout. As the second half wore on, the Patriots continued to fight back and cut into Buffalo’s lead. With just over six and a half minutes left, UT Tyler brought the game back within five, only to be answered by a Mohammed layup. With the Patriots threatening, five points from Pagoto pushed WT’s lead back to double digits. UT Tyler would lead by eight, but Pagotto converted two free throws to extend the lead to 10 with two and a half to play. Two free throws by Chotikavanic with 17 seconds left sealed the deal as the Packers held off the Patriots 79-71.
The Buffs rematch with Lubbock Christian on Thursday, January 30 for the second installment of the Range Rivalry series. WT and the Chaps will begin action at 7:30pm at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock.
Inside the box result
- The homers lead the all-time series with UT Tyler, 5-0.
- Head coach Tom Brown moves to 5-0 against the Patriots.
- WT shot 46.0% (23-of-50) from the field, 40.0% (8-of-20) from deep, 61.0% (25-of-41) from the charity stripe with 30 rebounds, nine assists, seven steals, Two blocks and eight turns.
- UT Tyler shot 48.1% (26-of-54) from the floor, 41.2% (7-of-17) from 3-point range, 70.6% (12-of-17) at the free throw line with 38 rebounds, Six assists, four steals, three blocks and 17 turnovers.
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