Devondrick Walker set career highs in points and made three-pointers, but a late Eastern New Mexico run helped the Zias defeat Texas A&M University-Commerce 83-78 on Jan. 22 at Greyhound Arena in Portales, N.M.
Walker finished with 27 points and six three-pointers to lead all players, and the Lions (12-5, 1-4 Lone Star Conference) led 67-63 with just 5:45 to play; however, the Greyhounds (9-7, 3-2 LSC) went on a quick 10-0 run in 2:08 to regain a lead that they never relinquished. The win marked the first time they had won consecutive games against the Lions since a run of four in a row from the 2002 to 2004 seasons.
A&M-Commerce outshot Eastern New Mexico 47 percent to 36 percent, and held a 44-39 advantage in rebounding, while also hitting 10 three-point buckets; however, the Greyhounds committed just six turnovers while the Lions had 20 on the night, leading to a 26-3 advantage for ENMU in points off of turnovers for the game.
Tyrie Wooten finished joined Walker in double figures with 12 points to reach double figures for the eight straight game, and Kenny Brown made five of his six shots from the floor to finish with 10 as the only two other Lions with at least 10 points.
Still, despite A&M-Commerce canned 10 of its 24 three-point tries, its most in Lone Star Conference play this season, Eastern New Mexico made nine of its 22 tries from beyond the arc and 22 of 29 from the foul line.
Rodney Blackmon and Cornelius Cammock led the Greyhounds with 19 points apiece, with including the go-ahead three with 4:11 to play. Rafael Love hit a pair of threes and added 16 points, with Devone Davis putting in 15 of his own.
The Lions were red hot from the field in the opening period, primarily from beyond the arc where they hit six of their 11 tries. Walker had a pair of those triples and was 5-for-5 at the foul line, including three free throws with no time on the clock to give A&M-Commerce a 40-39 edge going into the locker room.
Neither team led by more than five points in the first 20 minutes, with the teams exchanging the lead eight times. Eight Lions getting into the scoring column, with Wooten and LaDon Carnegie combining for 15 of the Lions' 22 bench points; however, the Greyhounds did stayed within arm's length due to a 15-3 edge in points off of 12 Lion turnovers.
A&M-Commerce will return to action on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. when it returns home to take on West Texas A&M at The Field House.
