Will Cook hit a pair of foul shots with 27.6 seconds left and the Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions came up empty on their final two possessions to give the Aggies a 69-66 win at Aggie Gym on Wednesday night.
The win gives the Aggies (9-5, 3-0 LSC) their first 3-0 start in conference play in league history and extended their home win streak over the Lions (12-4, 1-3 LSC) to four games.
It is the first time the Lions have dropped consecutive games this season.
After trailing by four points at the half and as much as nine in the second half, the Lions managed to take its first lead since the first three minutes of the game with 8:35 to go, and held a one-point lead in the game’s final minute on a lay-up from Devondrick Walker; however, the Aggies’ Will Cook converted a pair of foul shots to put the Aggies back ahead by a point, and then the Lions’ Tyrie Wooten was called for an offensive foul with 5.8 seconds to play to turn the ball back over to Cameron.
Craig Foster then proceeded to hit a pair of free throws and Devondrick Walker’s desperation three just before the buzzer missed off the front of the rim.
Kameron Price turned in one of his most solid outings of the season, leading the Lions with 14 points on the night and adding seven rebounds and three assists. Christian Macauley and Wooten joined him in double figures with 12 points apiece, while Cameron Blue had a game-high nine points.
But the Lions struggled from behind the arc as a team, hitting just 3-for-18 from three-point range, compared to the Aggies’ seven triples. Meanwhile, Cameron did their struggling from the foul line, hitting just 16-for-27 from the charity stripe.
Cook finished with a game-high 17 points for the Aggies, including three of the Aggies’ seven triples.
The Lions shot a solid 40 percent from the field, but hit just one of its 10 three-point tries, and trailed 33-29 at the break. But, aside from Kameron Price’s six points, they did most of their damage in the post with the down-low trio of Macauley, Kenny Brown and Cameron Blue combining for 17 points and six rebounds.
The teams traded the lead four times in the half, and a three from Wooten had it tied at 22-22 on the only Lion three of the half, but Charles Joy answered with a layup of his own for Cameron and gave them a lead that they did not relinquish until Price’s layup with 8:35 to go in the game.
A&M-Commerce will now get a full week off before concluding its three-game road swing with a game at Eastern New Mexico on Wednesday in Portales, N.M..