By Ryan Cantrell, Sports Writer
The Wildcats concluded their season with an upset over the West Texas A&M Buffaloes. The 62-61 victory knocked the Buffaloes out of conference postseason contention. Point guard Riley Lambert was the hero for the Wildcats, hitting a three-pointer with 30 seconds left and giving ACU the 62-61 lead, which was the final score.
“I am proud of those eight kids,” head coach Jason Copeland said. “They played hard, and the effort was there the full 40 minutes.”
Hindered by injuries and playing with only eight players, the Wildcats were able to snap a 21-game regular-season losing streak against the Buffaloes. The last time ACU was able to beat West Texas A&M goes back to Feb. 21, 1998. The Buffaloes would have clinched a postseason conference berth with a win or a Tarleton State loss. However, ACU played the spoiler role and knocked off the Buffs while Tarleton State defeated Angelo State and earned a spot in postseason. The Buffaloes will be on the outside looking in from the conference tournament for the first time since 2002.
The game was close throughout with the Wildcats leading 29-24 at halftime. The second half continued to go back and forth when guard Kay Shields hit a lay-up for WTAMU with 3:54 left to give the Buffaloes their largest lead of the game, 61-54. The Wildcats answered with an 8-0 run to close out the game and pull out the one-point victory.
After Lambert hit a three-pointer to take the lead with 30 seconds left, the Buffaloes had a chance to win. They advanced the ball and called timeout with 14 seconds left. The Wildcats had a foul to give, so Lambert fouled Shields with eight seconds remaining in the game. Guard Clint McFall took the in-bounds pass and missed a jumper with three seconds left. ACU center Kendrick Johnson pulled down the rebound and was fouled with seconds left. After missing the front end of the 1-1, the Buffs put up a desperation shot that was way off the mark and the Wildcats escaped.
Guard Ean Wagner and guard Dante Adams led the team in scoring with 18 and 17 respectively. WTAMU had four players in double figures in the loss.
The win capped off a disappointing season in which the Wildcats finished 10-16 and 4-8 in conference. The Buffaloes fell to 16-11 and 6-6 in conference. The Wildcats will lose six seniors this year including team leader forward Dejan Sencanski. ACU will also miss seniors forward Milos Klimovic, center Marko Nikolic, forward Cameron Holson, Wagner and Adams.
Sencanski finished the season averaging team-highs in points per game (17.6) and rebounds per game (6.1) while scoring 944 points in his two seasons for the Wildcats. Holson finished his four-year career with 953 points and averaged 9.7 points during this season. Adams was second in scoring, averaging 13.8 points per game Klimovic averaged 9.3 points per game. This strong senior class leaving puts Coach Copeland in a tough bind trying to replace players for next season.
“You miss every [senior] class,” Copeland said. “We are going to have to go out and sign six or seven players to get back in the thick of it.”
The future of the Wildcats program is uncertain for next season. This season’s top five scorers will all graduate this year, and the team will obviously look significantly different. The fate of next season will be in the hands of players who have not gotten a lot of experience or playing time. They will need to step up quickly and play the game at a high level in order to be competitive. It will also rely on the coaching staff and its ability to develop these players along with recruiting more players.
“When you have to replace that many guys you really don’t know what next year is going to look like, but we are already on the road recruiting for next year,” Copeland said.
