The UTPB men’s basketball team has struggled since returning from the Christmas break.
West Texas A&M just added to the Falcons’ misery.
Ahamed Mohammed scored 13 points to lead five Buffs in double figures en route to an 87-67 victory in Lone Star Conference play Saturday at the Falcon Dome.
If was the fifth straight loss for the Falcons.
Damion Thornton and Zach Toussaint each scored 11 points in the victory, with Julius Brown and Addison Wallace finishing with 10 points each.
Thornton and Mohammed each had a game-high seven rebounds for West Texas A&M (9-5 overall, 7-1 in conference).
Azariah Seay scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Falcons (8-9, 2-6).
Jalen King and DaJuan Jones each finished with 11 points, with Jones adding team highs in rebounds (6) and assists (6).
“We aren’t playing up to our capabilities,” UTPB head coach Kyle Tolin said. “It’s not been any good, we haven’t played any good.
“We’re banged up a little bit, but haven’t played to a level that we need to.”
The Falcons had their post-holiday schedule disrupted when eight of the players had flights affected by all the cancellations by Southwest Airlines and were late returning to campus.
Then, after just one practice, the team boarded a bus for trips to Portales, N.M., and Silver City, N.M., suffering a pair of close losses.
Follow that with games against nationally-ranked Lubbock Christian and then the Buffs and it’s easy to see how the frustrations can mount.
West Texas A&M put the game away fairly quickly, jumping out to a 25-10 lead at the 10:39 mark of the first half.
The Buffs continued to methodically push forward the rest of the first half, finishing with a 51-29 lead after 20 minutes.
The Falcons did a much better job in the second half, which was a disjointed affair with 29 fouls called after the break.
UTPB was 27 of 35 from the free throw line on the night, showing signs of life late in the contest.
“I thought we competed much better in the second half,” Tolin said. “We settled down and it’s something to build on.”
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West Texas A&M 87, UTPB 67
Saturday, Falcon Dome
WEST TEXAS A&M (9-5 overall, 7-1 Lone Star)
Julius Brown 3-7 4-4 10, Damion Thornton 5-10 1-2 11, Cameron Bell 0-2 2-2 2, Addison Wallace 4-5 2-3 10, Larry Wise 2-10 0-0 5, Ahamed Mohammed 4-6 3-4 13, Ryland Holt 3-5 0-0 8, Zach Tourssaint 4-7 0-0 11, Brock Mishak 2-4 0-0 5, Journee Phillips 2-3 0-0 4, Jesse Iweze 1-1 3-4 5, Nicholas Jett 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 31-62 16-21 87.
UTPB (8-9, 2-6)
Jalen King 3-7 5-7 11, DaJuan Jones 4-10 3-4 11, Azariah Seay 6-15 5-7 18, Keyon Craddock 2-7 2-2 7, Alavarez Powell 1-1 5-5 7, Max Warren 1-1 3-4 5, Rodney Carson Jr. 1-3 3-4 5, D’Mari Wiltz 0-1 0-0 0, Nathaniel Powell 1-2 1-2 3, Lino Manhom 0-0 0-0 0, Gio Lujan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-47 27-35 67.
Halftime — West Texas A&M 51, UTPB 29. 3-Point goals — West Texas A&M 9-28 (Brown 0-1, Thonton 0-1, Bell 0-2, Wise 1-7, Mohammed 2-3, Holt 2-4, Toussaint 3-6, Mishak 1-3, Phillips 0-1), UTPB 2-6 (Jones 0-1, Seay 1-3, Craddock 1-2). Total fouls — West Texas A&M 29, UTPB 22. Fouled out — West Texas A&M (Wise); UTPB (Warren). Technical Fouls — UTPB (Warren). Rebounds — West Texas A&M 38 (Thonton 7, Mohammed 7), UTPB 30 (Jones 6). Assists — West Texas A&M 13 (Mohammed 4), UTPB 9 (Jones 6).
