After being outscored 47-38 in the first half, A&M-Commerce responded with a second half defensive stalwart performance limiting Southern Arkansas to only 17 points in a 71-64 come-from-behind victory Monday night over the Muleriders in a nonconference game in the W.T. Watson Center to push the Lions winning streak to six games.
After knocking down 51 percent of their field goals in first half, 19-of-37, the Muleriders went the first six minutes of the second stanza without a basket from the floor as the stingy Lions defense allowed A&M-Commerce to climb back into the contest at the 14-minute mark.
The Lions took their first lead, 54-52, of the second half following an offensive rebound and putback by Christian Macauley with 10:31 remaining in the game. The lead was A&M-Commerce’s first since the 17:18 mark in the first half.
The two teams traded the lead four times over the next seven minutes following a Jaron Davis 3-pointer for SAU as the Muleriders took a 64-63 lead with 3:15 left to play. The basket – only the seventh of the half for the Muleriders – would be the last of the contest for SAU.
Anthony Adams started the Lions 8-0 closing run with a jumper in the paint and LaDon Carnegie followed with a slashing layup to give A&M-Commerce a 67-64 lead with 2:20 left to play. After defensive stop and mammoth rebound by Darrell Williams in traffic, the Lions took the game to a two-possession contest when Williams went to work in the paint and had a jumper go down after rattling around the rim. The basket seemingly put the game away as the only points over the final minute and a half of play game from JR Owens on a pair of free throws to give the Lions the 71-64 win.
The Lions knocked down 50 percent of their shots from the floor – their highest percentage of the season – after going 26-of-52 overall. The Muleriders ended the game at 39 percent overall. After going 15-of-38 for 39 percent in the first meeting this season, SAU made only 7 of its 24 long-range attempts for 29 percent.
A&M-Commerce, the NCAA leader in free throws made and third in free throws attempted, continued the trend with 14 makes from the charity stripe on 23 attempts, while the Muleriders went to the line only eight times with five makes. The Lions have made more free throws their opponents have attempted in eight of the ten games this season including the last seven games.
After getting outrebounded in the first half, 19-13, the Lions, who entered Monday’s game as the NCAA’s fifth best rebounding team, ended the game with a 40-34 advantage on the boards.
Carnegie paced the Lions with 20 points on a career-best 7-of-11 shooting from the floor for a 63.6 percent shooting percentage. It was his fourth 20-point of the season and ninth of his career as a Lion. Williams followed with 17 points following a 7-for-14 shooting performance. Through the first 10 games of the season Williams has tallied double-digits in nine games.
Southern Arkansas was led by Alre’k Brown and his 17 points, while Davis and Alvin Braddock each chipped in 10 points.