GOLDEN, Colo. (Men's Basketball) – Who would have thought the Javelinas would be in the round of 32? Johnny Estelle's squad, a team that began the 2016-17 season 8-7 and 1-5 in Lone Star Conference play trailed by as much as 21 in the 2017 NCAA Division II South Central semifinals at Lockridge Arena and cut it to seven but Texas A&M University-Kingsville's (19-12) comeback fell just short as West Texas A&M University (26-8) advances to the championship with a 76-64 victory.
 
The 19 wins in 2016-17 are the most since 2008-09. Trey Sumpter finished with 21 points and seven rebounds and Duan Wright added 14 points.
 
FIRST HALF
Early moving screens allowed A&M-Kingsville to take a 3-0 lead but the Buffs went on a 15-0 run with 13:35 remaining in opening stanza.
 
The run reached 17 before Wright drained a triple to give TAMUK its first points since the 19:27 mark.
 
The deficit became 19 with 3:48 remaining as West Texas A&M blew the game open with its bench scoring (24 to TAMUK's three) and rebounding (24 to TAMUK's eight).
 
Sumpter scored nine points in the half and Wright added seven with the Buffs holding a 44-27 lead. David Chavlovich scored a game-high 10 points, half coming from the charity stripe and Ryan Quaid and Carl White combined for 16 points and 16 rebounds.
 
SECOND HALF
Sumpter and the Hogs came out firing in the second frame, beginning the stanza on an 8-2 run, cutting the gap to 11 with 15:36 left to play.
 
The Hogs chipped away at the deficit and cut it to 12 with 10:39 on a 7-0 run that began with an old-fashioned three-point play for Wright.
 
A corner triple by Sumpter at the 9:30 mark made it a 10-0 run and a single digit ballgame. After trapping Tommy Gove and forcing a Buffs timeout, Sumpter came up with a steal on the inbounds and Thomas Diaz connected on the second chance bucket to cut it to seven. The run was officially 12-0 before Joseph Prince's free throws at the 8:20 marker.
 
With 5:03 remaining, Derrick Byrd drove to the hoop and connected on the and-one to cut the deficit to 10.
 
Ultimately, the Buffs hit crucial free throws to lengthen the cushion as the men's program joined the women's in the regional finals.
 
Chavlovich scored 18 points, Ryan Quaid added 12 points and 12 rebounds, Joseph Prince finished with 11 and Eric Golighly Jr. posted 10. The bench scored 50 points for WT.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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