CANYON, Texas (February 28, 2026) – In their final game as Falcons, seniors TJ McKenzie and Sharrod Taylor combined for 40 points, but it was not enough as the UT Permian Basin men's basketball team come up short by a final score of 76-65 on the road at West Texas A&M University.

McKenzie scored 21 points on 7-for-15 shooting from the field and a 5-for-6 mark from the free throw line to reach the 20-point mark for the third time in the final four games of the season.

Taylor scored 19 points on 8-for-21 shooting and three 3-pointers and finished the season with 15 straight games scoring in double digits and five straight games scoring at least 15 points. Taylor also added eight rebounds and was one of three UTPB seniors in the game to record at least eight boards.

Tash Lunday scored 13 points, was 6-for-8 from the free throw line, and added nine boards, including six on the offensive glass. Lunday scored in double digits in all but two of the team's 28 games on the season, and finished with at least nine rebounds 13 times.

Despite not attempting a shot, Kyle McElroy grabbed a team-high and season-high 10 rebounds.

UTPB shot just 27.78 percent (10-36) in the first half and was just 3-for-13 (23.08 percent) from three, but was a strong 10-for-13 (76.92 percent) from the charity stripe to keep the Falcons in the game. UTPB finished the game 76.2 percent (16-21) from the line, and was 74.6 percent for the season.

Despite its first-half shooting numbers, UTPB was right there with five ties and eight lead changes in the opening period.

After taking an 11-9 lead on a 3-pointer by Brady Watson five minutes into the game, the Falcons would hold onto the lead for over nine minutes until the Buffaloes tied it at 18-18 with a layup with six minutes left in the first half.

Down by just four points at the half (37-33), UTPB scored the first four points of the second half on a jumper by Taylor and a layup by McKenzie to tie it at 37-37 three and a half minutes in.

That would be the final tie in the game as UTPB never took the lead back, and instead, watched WT take an eight-point lead (49-41) after a 3-pointer with 11 and a half minutes remaining.

UTPB quickly battled back to within three points within the next two minutes on a 3-pointer by McKenzie and a layup by Taylor on the assist by Watson making it 49-46.

Then down three again (52-49) after a three by Taylor off another assist by Watson, three straight baskets by WT put the Buffs up by nine points (58-49) with under seven minutes to go.

Watson would tie for the game-high with three assists, with each of his coming in the second half, including the final one on a three by Lunday to make it 58-52 with under six and a half minutes remaining.

WT extended its lead to double digits (64-54) for the first time with five minutes left and led by at least three possessions the rest of the way.

UTPB finished its 2025-26 season 10-18 overall and 6-14 in the Lone Star Conference.

The Falcons tied for 13th place in the LSC standings and finished sixth in the LSC in points per game (78.4), fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (.346), seventh in 3-pointers made per game (7.9), sixth in free throw percentage (.746), third in made free throws (478), fourth in free throw attempts (641), and tied for fourth in rebounds per game (36.4).