No. 12 Southwestern Oklahoma State junior Clarke Hale hit a 3-pointer with less than a second remaining in regulation and scored four of the first six points in overtime to lead the host Bulldogs to a 85-78 overtime win over Texas A&M University-Commerce.
The Bulldogs (16-3, 4-0 LSC North) managed to outscore the Lions by a 12-5 margin in the extra period. Eight of the 12 points came from the free-throw line for the victors. Hale led five players from SWOSU in double digits with 18. He was joined by Nate Perry, who added 14, Brandon Nichols and Abdullah Lawal each poured in 13 and Kendall Smith added 10.
The Lions (8-12, 3-2 LSC North) got 18 points from senior Scooby Johnson to lead four A&M-Commerce players in double digits. Off the bench, juniors Derrick Darkis and Cedric Griffin scored 13 and 10 points, respectively. Senior Leonard Bishop added 10. A&M-Commerce also shot 50.8 percent from the field.
Southwestern Oklahoma State started the second half with a 12-4 run; however, Darkis scored the next five points and a thunderous dunk by Johnson tied the game at 48 for the seventh time.
The Bulldogs regained the lead after Brandon Nichols made 1-of-2 free throws, but Jacobi Jackson threw down a dunk of his own and a layup by Griffin put the Lions in front 52-49.
A&M-Commerce maintained the lead until the 3-pointer by Hale with three-tenths of a second left in the game tied the game at 75.
After an exchange of six ties, a layup by Kevin Widemond with 13 seconds remaining put the Lions in front to give A&M-Commerce a halftime lead for the 19th time in 20 games.
The two teams shot over 50 percent from the field in the first half. A&M-Commerce shot 51.7 percent from the floor, including a 55.6 percent effort from beyond the 3-point line.
Bishop led the attack for the Lions with eight points on the strength of two 3-pointers and Brown and Johnson added seven points apiece.
After traveling to play Cameron on Wednesday, the Lions return home to face Central Oklahoma for a 4 p.m. tip-off on Saturday at the A&M-Commerce Field House.