The No. 18 WTAMU Buffalo basketball team traveled to San Angelo Texas to play their second Lone Star Conference game of the season against the Angelo State Rams on Dec. 1. After a one-point loss to Abilene Christian in the Buff’s first LSC game on Nov. 28 in Canyon, WT bounced back by routing ASU 73-44.
The Buffs opened the first half with a 10-4 lead with 17:28 remaining in the first half. The Rams would go on a 14-6 run to take a 16-18 lead with 12:39 left in the half. WT answered by outscoring ASU 25-10 across the rest of the half to take a 41-28 lead into the break.
The Buffs shot 17 for 25 from the field for 68 percent in the half. Seniors Donald Sims and Nate Drayton led WT with 10 points a piece in the first half.
With a 41-29 lead in the early stages of the second half, the Buffs would go on a 26-9 run to claim a 30-point advantage, 67-37, with 4:45 left in the game. WT would outscore the Rams 32-16 across the entire second half, not allowing ASU to even score 10 points in the half until there were seven minutes to go in the game, on their way to the 73-44 win.
“We were proud of the way we bounced back after the loss to ACU,” Head Coach Rick Cooper said.
The Buffs would finish the night shooting 28 of 46 for 61 percent from the field. Sims led the team with 13 points and 10 rebounds and senior Darnell Jackson also scored 13 points for WT. Drayton and sophomore Tez Dumars each finished with 12 points.
“We are still very much a work in progress, but we believe we have a chance to have a very successful season if we continue to improve as we have so far,” Cooper said.
The Buffs record now stands a 7-1 overall and 1-1 in the LSC. WT will travel to Wichita Falls on Dec. 5 to take on another LSC-rival in Midwestern State. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
