CANYON -- West Texas A&M opened the second half with 15-4 run and never looked back as the Buffaloes knocked off ACU, 77-63, in the Wildcats' season-finale at the First United Bank Center.
The loss finishes the Wildcats' season at 8-19 overall and 1-11 in the Lone Star Conference South Division. West Texas A&M, meanwhile, goes to next week's LSC Post-Season Tournament in Bartlesville, Okla., with a 15-12 overall and 6-6 record in division play. The Buffs finished as the No. 4 seed out of the LSC South.
ACU's finish marks its 10th losing season in the last 12 years and means the Wildcats will miss the LSC Post-Season Tournament for the 11th time in the last 12 years. The ACU wins also mark the fifth time in the last 11 years that ACU has failed to finish a season with at least 10 wins.
Joe Mincey and Bijan Dotson each had four points in the second-half run that helped the Buffs open a 50-30 lead with 16:39 to play. That lead grew to as many as 26 points with 8:10 to play (61-35) on a jumper by Chris Tucker. The Wildcats went on a 23-9 run over the next six minutes to cut the lead to 70-58 with 2:28 to play, but that was as close as ACU would get.
ACU's
Eddie Thompson led all scorers with 27 points as he went 9 of 15 from the field, including 6 of 11 from 3-point range. But
Marcus Washington's 10 points off the bench represented ACU's only double-digit scoring output.
