Senior Scooby Johnson hit a jumper with the shot clock winding down and 3.4 seconds remaining to lead Texas A&M University-Commerce to a 75-74 win over host East Central on Saturday afternoon in Ada, Okla.
The Buffalo, Texas native, who was held to a season-low two points at the intermission, scored eight of the last 11 points for the Lions.
He finished the contest with 14 points to join three A&M-Commerce players in double figures. Senior Kevin Widemond scored a game-high 23 points – including 14 in the first half and junior Rashad Brown added a career-high 15 points.
A key reason for the Lions victory was a 15-to-9 advantage on the offensive boards. Five of the rebounds came from junior Jacobi Jackson, who finished the contest with a career-high eight rebounds. Brown also grabbed eight rebounds – four on the offensive side of the ledger. The 15 offensive rebounds are the third most by the Lions in 2007-08.
A&M-Commerce raises its record to 6-11 and even its Lone Star Conference record at 1-1.
East Central (9-7, 0-2) was involved in its second-straight game decided by three points or less, dropping both decisions.
The Tigers were led by Terrell Carpenter, who scored 16 points – eight of which came from the free throw line and the double-double of Greenville, Texas native Justin Wilkerson, who scored 16 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes of action off the bench.
After four early ties, the Lions went on a 10-0 run to take a 21-13 lead with 13:08 left in the first half.
During the run, A&M-Commerce got a spark off its bench with five-consecutive points from Derrick Darkis and a 3-pointer by Brent Stanton.
The Lions managed to extends their lead to as much as 12 in the opening half. After a late 8-1 run by the host Tigers, Widemond came up with a steal in the final seconds, who dished to Brown, who then found an open Leonard Bishop, Jr. for a layup to send the Lions to their 17th-consecutive halftime lead, 43-36.
In the second half, A&M-Commerce held a double-digit advantage until the sixth-straight point by Wilkerson cut the Lions lead to 54-46 with 15:11 left in the game. The Tigers clawed all the way back to take a 71-70 lead when Riley hit a 3-pointer with 1:40 remaining in the game.
With a one-point deficit, Widemond hit one of two free throws for the first tie since 11-11 with 15:24 remaining in the first half.
On their next possession, Carpenter hit a free throw with 1:19 remaining, but the senior guard missed the second and the battle for the rebound went out of bounds.
The Lions came down the floor and Brown was fouled by Wilkerson.
The 44.8 percent free throw shooter swished a pair of free throws to put the Lions back in front 73-72. Next, on a drive by Carpenter, he was fouled by Johnson with 38 seconds left in the game. This time, the senior guard made both free throws to put ECU back in the lead, 74-73.
With 26 seconds left on the clock, head coach Sam Walker called a time out to set the stage for the heroics by Johnson.
At the top of the key, Stanton found a crack in the Tigers man-to-man defense to set the stage for the heroics by Johnson. After making the shot, the Tigers had one last chance effort but a 21-foot shot by Tyler Thetford came up short.
UCO edges A&M-C
Michael Sosanta made two free throws with 17.1 seconds left in the game to lead Central Oklahoma to an 84-83 win over Texas A&M University-Commerce in Edmond, Okla.
After Sosanta made the free throws, the Lions had three attempts at a potential game-winning field goal that came up short in the final seconds.
The loss overshadows over an extraordinary effort by the Lions, who played with only seven players. The Lions fall to 5-11 overall and 0-1 in the Lone Star Conference North Division. Despite the seven players, four Lions scored in double digits including seniors Scooby Johnson and Kevin Widemond, who scored 22 and 21 points, respectively. Juniors Rashad Brown and Derrick Darkis each scored 10 in the defeat.
A&M-Commerce shot a season-high 58.9 percent from the field and held the Bronchos to 36.8 percent shooting – their second lowest field-goal percentage of the season.
Central Oklahoma won its sixth in a row at home to raise their record to 12-4 and 1-0 in the LSC North. Four Bronchos scored in double digits, including 15 from Sosanta and Sam Belt. The duo was joined in double figures by Larry Franklin and Eric Cazenave, who each hit four 3-pointers.
In the first half, trailing 26-17 with 8:12 left in the first half, A&M-Commerce retaliated with a 20-1 run to put the Lions in front, 37-27 with 2:27 remaining.
The Lions went into the intermission for the 16th-consecutive game with a halftime lead, holding a 40-35 advantage over the Bronchos. In the first half, A&M-Commerce shot a season-best 57.1 percent from the field and were 50 percent from beyond the three-point line. Widemond led the Lions with 15 points, including three 3-pointers.