Abilene Christian outscored Texas A&M-Commerce 14-4 over the final 2:47 en route to an 88-84 win in the Moody Coliseum on Saturday afternoon in a Lone Star Conference crossover game.
“We played really well this weekend with a win over Angelo St. and a heartbreaker vs. ACU,” said A&M-Commerce head basketball coach Sam Walker. “Abilene hit 13 three pointers against a pretty gooddefense. It is difficult to combat that on the road.”
The Lions held an 80-74 lead on a jumper by Lamar Searight with 2:47 remaining but the host Wildcats hit a pair of three pointers on consecutive possessions to tie the contest at 80.
On their next possession, ACU took an 81-80 lead when Marcos Hubner hit one of two free throws with 1:30 remaining for their first lead since 45-43 with 17:36 left in the contest.
The Wildcats erased a 12-point lead that the Lions had built after trailing for most of the first half.
A&M-Commerce could only get as close as one in the final seconds, but ACU hit five of six free throws to complete the come-from-behind win.
The loss drops Texas A&M-Commerce to 5-3 on the season and Abilene Christian raises their record with the win to 4-1.
After trailing by eight, 45-37, at the halftime break; Searight sparked the Lions with 19 second half points for a game-high 27 points.
The Pontiac, Mich. native made 10 of 25 shots from the field and went a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. Plus, he shared in team-high honors with Donnell Franklyn with eight rebounds.
He led four Lions in double figures as Kevin Widemond hit five three pointers for 15 points; Bobby Joshua added 13 and Archie Beason chipped in with 10.
The bench for ACU provided a spark as they outscored the Lions 37-9 in the win.
Leading the way were reserves Cortnie Ross, who scored a team-high 20 points and Tiago Souza added 13.
Also, in double figures for the Wildcats were four starters including Phillip Brooks with 14, Norman Alexander and Cameron Holson each scored 12 and Hubner added 10.
“We look forward to being back home for a couple of games,” Walker said. “West Texas has been one of the better teams the in the league for some time and they are the defending Lone Star Conference champs. We will have to play well to win.”