CANYON – Facing one of the Lone Star Conference's top defensive units, the ACU Wildcats had to be almost perfect in every area to walk out of the First United Bank Center with a win.
But despite a late rally that helped them make Wednesday night's game a two-possession contest late in the second half, the Wildcats lost to West Texas A&M in Canyon for the 14th straight time, 57-49.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 10-13 overall and 2-11 in the LSC and into ninth place in the 10-team league. Angelo State pushed one game ahead of the Wildcats in the LSC standings and into eighth place with a 70-62 win over Eastern New Mexico.
The top eight teams at the end of the regular season will qualify for the LSC Post-Season Tournament, which will get started the first week of March in Allen.
The Wildcats trailed 44-29 with 13:24 left and it looked as if the Buffaloes would run away with another win over ACU.
But the Wildcats wouldn't go away.
Senior forward
Eric Kibi keyed a 14-4 run over an eight-minute span that brought the Wildcats to within 48-43 with 5:31 left to play. Kibi had seven points in the run, and
Zach Williams canned a short jumper to cut it to a five-point game.
But the Buffs regained control on their next possession.
With the shot clock winding down, Tez Dumars canned a 3-pointer from deep in the corner to make it 51-43 with 4:57 to play. ACU would creep to within five points on a couple of occasions, but that was as close as the Wildcats would get.
The loss drops ACU to 0-11 all-time at the First United Bank Center and 1-25 against the Buffs since the turn of the century.
Kibi and
Antonio Bell led the way for the Wildcats with nine points apiece as ACU struggled to score against the LSC's second-ranked scoring defense.
