LaDon Carnegie sparked a second half surge with 22 points in the final frame to lead the A&M-Commerce men's basketball team to their first Lone Star Conference win of the 2014-15 season, a 87-71 rout of Texas A&M-Kingsville Thursday night.
Carnegie, who only had two points in the first half, erupted for 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting including a pair of threes in the second stanza. He also sank four of his five free throw attempts to finish with 24 points on the game. However, it was the Lions big man and double-double machine Darrell Williams who led all scorers with 26 points and 13 rebounds for his tenth double-double of the season and fourth straight. Williams was a monster in the first half with 17 points.
The Lions led by a single point at the half, 40-39, but opened up play in the second half with a 21-8 run to take a 14 point lead, 61-47, with 11:45 showing on the clock. The run took steam out of the sails of the Javelinas who were never able to threaten down the stretch. The Lions pushed the gap out to their largest lead of the game, 21 points, 81-60, following a pair of Carnegie free throws with just under four minutes to play en route to the 16 point, 87-71 win.
The Lions connected on five second half triples to finish the game 8-of-15 from behind the three-point for 53 percent – their highest percent of the season. A&M-Commerce shot at 49 percent clip from the floor and 87 percent mark from the charity stripe going 21-of-24 from the line. The Javelinas ended at 45 percent overall, 30 percent from three, 9-of-30, and 57 percent from the free throw line. Kingsville only attempted seven free throws with four makes marking the 11th straight game and 12th game this season the Lions have made more free throws than their opponents attempted.
The Lions narrowly won the rebound battle, 36-33, in a game that was physical from the opening tipoff to final whistle. Evidence of the Lions strength showed up in points in the paint where the Lions taking a 38-22 edge inside. A&M-Commerce also won the turnover battle forcing 15 Kingsville turnovers leading to 29 points. Meanwhile the Lions handed the ball over only 11 times allowing only six points for the Javelinas.
Kingsville had four players score in double digits led by Troy Jones who notched 18 points on a 9-of-14 shooting performance. Jordan Jahr, Don Thomas and DJ Weathers each chipped in 10 points.
With the win, A&M-Commerce moves to 11-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play, while Kingsville slips to 5-8 on the season and 0-1 in the LSC.
The Lions will take the next six days off before opening a three-game home stand with Cameron on Wednesday, 14 with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. back inside the Field House.
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