Buffalos hand Cowboys first loss of the season

Box Score DURANGO, Colo.- The Cowboys finished out the Skyhawk Regional Challenge against West Texas A&M. The Cowboys went into halftime down, started the second half hot, but they could not keep the lead as they fell to the Buffalos 89-74.
 
The Cowboys opened the game only netting two of their first five shots spanning 3:54. With the Buffalos up 9-8 with 15:45 left in the first half James Healy knocked down the three to give the Cowboys their first lead of the game. Just 21 seconds later Kendrick Nichols gave the Cowboys the four point lead on dunk with a nice pass form Jonathan Mines
 
The Buffalo would then go on a 6:23, 18-4 run to give them a 29-15 lead. In the final 2:31 of the first half the Cowboys would go on a run offensively and get stops on the defensive side. They would end the half on a 6-0 run while forcing the Buffalo to miss their final 3 field goals to cut the Buffalo's lead to 4, 41-37.
 
The Cowboys came out ready to play the second half as they attacked the basket and drew the foul. The Cowboys score the first five points in the half to give them the 42-42-41 lead. In this time the Buffalos missed their first three shots and had two turnovers. Mines would hit a lay-up to give the Cowboys the 46-43 lead that forced West Texas A&M to take a timeout. The Cowboys started the second half shooting 57% from the field in the first 4:30.
 
With the Cowboys up 57-51 and 11:07 left in the game Tommy Gove of the Buffalo hit a three to cut the Cowboys lead to three and started their run. With 8:52 on the clock Ryan Quaid hit two free throws the tie the game at 58. Davis Chavlovich of West Texas A&M would then score four straight points to give the Buffalos the 62-58 lead with 7:58 left in the game.
 
The Cowboys would then come out in a full court court defense to try and force the Buffalos to make mistakes.  Unfortunately due to some offensive rebounds and nice plays, the Buffalos grew their lead to nine, 68-59.  A three by Eric Golightly expounded the Buffalos lead to 11 with a three from the wing.  It was at this point that coach Craig Snow took off the jacket.
 
After a missed dunk by the Cowboys the Buffalo ran the court for a quick layup to make it 73-61 Buffalos with 5:16 minutes left in the game. The Buffalos would then slow the pace down to help runt h clock out. They would then trade baskets with the Cowboys the rest of the way to finish the Cowboys 89-74. Marlon Johnson recorded his second straight double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
 

Leaders
Points	Marlon Johnson 22
Rebounds	Marlon Johnson 10
Assist	Jonathan Mines 5

 
Thoughts from coach Craig Snow:

"This was the 3rd game in a row we've been exposed on the backboard. I think we have a long way to go to reach our potential. Too man empty possessions offensively and also too man defensive lapses, and we can't do that against a good team. We had stretches where we really dictated the tempo of the game but we couldn't sustain it for a full 40 minutes." 

The Cowboys fall to 1-1 for the season and will return to action on Monday at UNLV. Game time is set for 8 p.m. MST.