A&M-Commerce 75, Henderson State 74
Duke Wells Center – Arkadelphia, Ark.
Records: A&M-Commerce (8-0); Henderson State (4-4)
Up Next: at Northwood – Tuesday, Dec. 3 – 7 p.m. – Cedar Hill

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – A&M-Commerce faced its toughest challenge of the season to date as the Lions found themselves locked in a back-and-forth dual with Henderson State Saturday evening in Arkadelphia. But as it has done all season, A&M-Commerce came up with the key shots when it counted as the Lions outlasted the Reddies 75-74 at the Duke Wells Center, improving to 8-0 on the year.

The victory matches A&M-Commerce's second-best start to a season, pulling even with the 8-0 start the 1953-54 squad matched en route to advancing to the NAIA quarterfinals. The Lions are two games off the pace of the 1947-48 team, who started off the year with a 10-0 mark.

A&M-Commerce was led on the night by senior Devondrick Walker, who had arguably one of his best games in a Lion uniform. Walker finished with 19 points off the bench, hitting seven of his eight shots from the floor, including a perfect five-for-five from three-point range, while also notching four rebounds for A&M-Commerce.

Freshman De'Andre Carson recorded 13 points for the Lions, including nine during a two-minute span midway through the second half to help A&M-Commerce rally from a six-point deficit. Carson also led the Lions with four assists and three steals while pulling down four rebounds.

LaDon Carnegie and Tyrie Wooten both notched nine points on the evening as Carnegie pulled down seven rebounds to lead the Lions. Christian Macauley had another impressive performance, recording a career-best six blocks against Henderson State with five points and five rebounds. Daniel Ehambe added seven points with Kameron Price and Cameron Blue both finishing five, combining for 11 rebounds.

One night after a blowout victory at Southern Arkansas, A&M-Commerce started off its game against Henderson State in similar fashion, racing out to a 10-4 lead in the opening minutes. But unlike Friday night, the Reddies were able to find their scoring touch, using an extended 21-5 run to pull ahead by nine at 24-15 with 7:35 remaining in the half.

But as it has done all season, A&M-Commerce found a way to scratch its way back into the game, using a 9-0 run of its own, spearheaded by back-to-back threes from Wooten, pulling even with the Reddies at 24-24 with six minutes remaining in the half.

It set up a back-and-forth affair over the final minutes as the two teams combined for three ties and three lead changes, capped by a pair of free throws by Carson to give A&M-Commerce the 33-31 halftime advantage.

 Henderson State came out firing early in the second half, outscoring A&M-Commerce 15-2 over the opening five minutes to extend its lead to a game-high 11 at 46-35. The Lions would chip away at that deficit, pulling to within one at 52-51 with 9:42 remaining in the game, only to see the Reddies pull back ahead by six at 57-51 at the 8:57 mark.

Trailing by six, Carson made his impact felt as the freshman scored nine of the Lions' next 12 points, sandwiching a three-pointer from Walker, including a pair of steals as A&M-Commerce outscored Henderson State 12-2 over a two-minute span, pulling ahead by four at 63-59 with 6:20 remaining. The Lions then extended that run to 17-4 off another three from Walker as A&M-Commerce built its largest lead of the game at 68-61 with 4:45 left on the clock.

That set up another back-and-forth duel over the final five minutes which could help define the Lions' 2013-14 season. Henderson State outscored A&M-Commerce 13-3 to pull back in front 74-71 with 47 seconds remaining. But a three-pointer from Walker with 27 seconds left knotted the game at 74-74, followed by a block from Macauley that gave the ball back to the Lions in the waning seconds.

A Reddie foul sent Carnegie to the line, where he hit one of two free throw attempts, and then the Lion defense stepped up in the game's biggest moment as Henderson State's Taylor Smith was unable to get a clean look at the basket, missing the potential game-winning three point attempt as time expired as the Lions prevailed with a 75-74 road victory.

A&M-Commerce ended the game shooting 41.5 percent from the floor, including hitting 11 of its 23 three-point attempts (47.8 percent) while going 10-of-17 from the free throw line (58.8 percent). Henderson State was a tad-bit better from the floor, shooting 44.4 percent, but hit just 38.5 percent from three-point range and was just 57.1 percent from the foul line.

With the victory, the Lions extend their winning streak over the Reddies to eight-straight games dating back to the 1995-96 season. Head coach Sam Walker improved to 4-0 all-time against Henderson State as the Lions' head man has now won 18 of his last 19 games against opponents from the state of Arkansas.

A&M-Commerce continues its four-game road trip with a pair of games in the Metroplex this coming week. The Lions start off with a Tuesday evening showdown with Northwood in Cedar Hill. Opening tip against the Knights is set for 7 p.m.