Box Score  
 
ALLEN, Texas – The A&M-Commerce Lions erased a five-point deficit in the game's final minute, getting a pair of foul shots from Kameron Price with 9.5 seconds to play to escape with a 74-73 win over Eastern New Mexico on Thursday in the opening round of the Lone Star Conference Tournament at the Allen Event Center.
 
The Lions (19-8) trailed 73-68 with just 50 seconds to play, but after a pair of free throws from Tyrie Wooten, Price came up with a steal and found Cameron Blue streaking to the basket for a bucket that cut the lead to just 73-72. Just eight seconds later, Price came up with another steal in the backcourt and worked his way to the foul line with 9.5 seconds to play, canning both shots to put the Lions ahead 74-73, its first lead since the 9:02 mark of the first half.
 
Eastern New Mexico (14-13) had one final chance, and put the ball in the hands of leading scorer Rodney Blackmon, who drove the length of the court but could not get a high-arching layup to go in over the outstretched arm of Christian Macauley.
 
The win sends the Lions to the tournament semifinals where they will face off with top-seeded and nationally-ranked Tarleton State on Friday at 8:30 p.m., less than a week after handing the Texans just their second loss of the season.
 
The victory also snaps a five-year streak of first-round exits for the Lions, advancing to the semifinals for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
 
On a night where A&M-Commerce's two all-conference selections – LaDon Carnegie and Devondrick Walker – combined for just 14 points, it was Wooten lead the Lions with 16 points and three assists in the game, hitting nine of his 10 free throws and seven of eight in the game's final eight minutes.
 
Meanwhile, Daniel Ehambe proided the spark off the bench, hitting a trio of threes, all in the second half, to finish with 11 points and help the Lions to a 33-17 advantage in bench points. Price finished with 13 points in 25 minutes off the bench as well, while Cameron Blue finished with six points and a career-high 10 boards in his 27 minutes of work.
 
On the other side, five Greyhounds finished in double figures, led by 14 points apiece from Blackmon and Rafael Love. The Hounds hit seven triples on the night, but were just 18 for 27 at the foul line and managed just a jumper from Cornelius Cammock in the game's final two minutes of play.
 
The Lions opened up hot, hitting eight of their first 12 shots of the game building up a 21-13 lead on the strength of eight points from Carnegie.
 
But from there the Hounds responded, going on a 13-0 run in just five minutes to double their point total and take a 26-23 lead on a layup from Blackmon. They continued to build their lead, hitting better than 55 percent from the field and canning five triples to take a 47-39 lead into the break.
 
ENMU continued to stretch out the lead in the second half, needing just over four minutes to push it out to 13 at 55-42 on a wide-open three from Devone Davis.
 
But the Lions found their response off the bench with Ehambe hitting all three of his triples within a five-minute span as part of a 13-3 A&M-Commerce run that drew them back to within three points with nine minutes to play.
 
Still, the Lions were not able to inch all the way back, getting as close as a point with 5:40 remaining and eventually trailing by as much as five with less than a minute to go.
 
The Lions will face off with the top-seeded Texans on Friday at 8:30 p.m. at the AEC, with the winner advancing to play for the tournament title.
 
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