Freshman Brad Hambrick scored a career-high 21 and senior DeUndrae Spraggins added 13 more to lead host Texas A&M-Commerce to a 64-60 win over Cameron on Saturday afternoon at the A&M-Commerce Field House.
Trailing by eight, 50-42 with 11:50 to go, A&M-Commerce went on a game-deciding 17-5 run over the next seven minutes for the win. When the Lions’ Sammy Jackson hit two free throws with 6:53 remaining, it gave A&M-Commerce its first lead of the game at 53-51.
The two teams exchanged a pair of ties until Cardell Hunter and Ronnie Morgan each hit back-to-back lay ups on consecutive possessions to lead the Lions to its fifth win in the last six games.
A&M-Commerce (14-9, 5-3 LSC North) forced 19 Aggies’ turnovers that translated into 24 points for the Lions in the win. The Lions’ bench scored 31 – 21 of which came from Hambrick – of the Lions’ 64 points in the win. Also, off the bench, senior Rashad Brown added six points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Cameron (11-12, 4-4 LSC North) was led by Mekalle Reed, who scored 19 points and Kallon Glasgow had a double double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the defeat.
The Lions raced out to a 38-31 advantage in the first half on the strength of 57.1% shooting from the field. However, in the second stanza, the Lions defense rose to the occasion as they held CU to 24.1% shooting from the field.
The win moves the Lions back into a tie for second with Southwestern Oklahoma State, who was idle on Saturday. Next on the schedule for A&M-Commerce is a contest against East Central, who the Lions defeated 76-74 on a last-second shot by Spraggins on January 29th.
The Lions went on to dominate in their next game.
The Texas A&M-Commerce led from start-to-finish in a 69-56 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State on Saturday night in Durant, Oklahoma.
A&M-Commerce (16-9, 7-3 LSC North) landed three players in double digits including Cardell Hunter with 14, DeUndrae Spraggins added 13 and Sammy Jackson chipped in 10 for the winning cause. Off the bench, Brad Hambrick and Rashad Brown each scored eight points and Dallas Hunter added six.
Southeastern Oklahoma State (5-21, 2-9 LSC North) also had three players in double digits as Nate Pope added 13, William Stones and Mychal Horn scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Lions’ senior Dominique Taylor came up with a steal on the opening possession of the contest as A&M-Commerce forced the Savage Storm into 22 turnovers which translated into 26 points in the win. The lead remained single digits throughout the opening half as A&M-Commerce shot 50% from the field in the first 20 minutes.
In the second half, SOSU started the second half on a 10-4 spurt to get within one at 36-35 with 16:21 to go. With the Lions holding a two-point lead, 41-39, A&M-Commerce answered with a 10-3 spurt for a nine-point advantage, culminating with a dunk by Ronnie Morgan at the 10:46 mark.
Down the stretch, SOSU managed to get as close as five at the 8:47 mark, once again, A&M-Commerce had an answer as they took the lead to as much as a game-high 15.
One of the Lions received further recognition for his worki this week.
Texas A&M University-Commerce senior DeUndrae Spraggins on Monday was named the Lone Star Conference North Division Player of the Week for his efforts in the Lions’ wins over East Central and Southeatern Oklahoma State.
Spraggins poured in a season-high 42 points, which is also the most in the LSC this season, and jumped to the top of the A&M-Commerce record books with 10 three pointers in the 108-86 win over East Central. In addition to his 10 3-point field goals made, he set the record for attempts with 21, eclipsing the previous marks of eight for made and 15 for attempts. To start the game, he scored the team’s first 11 points of the game and tallied 33 points in the opening half as the Lions jumped out to a 60-37 advantage at halftime. He followed that up with 13 points against Southeastern Oklahoma State. For the week, he made 45.9% of his shots from the field and missed just one free throw as he was 11-for-12 and 91.7%. He was also part of a stifling defense that forced the Tigers and the Savage Storm to shoot just 19.4% from the 3-point line and forced 41 turnovers.
Next up for Spraggins as well as other seniors Rashad Brown, Cedric Griffin, Jacobi Jackson, Chris Okonofua, Dominique Taylor will be honored in pre-game activities as A&M-Commerce celebrates Senior Night, Greek Night and Black History Month prior to the game against Central Oklahoma on Wednesday at the A&M-Commerce Field House.