COMMERCE – After a late rally from the Ouachita Baptist Tigers to force overtime, Jairus Roberson outscored the Tigers himself in overtime to help the Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team start the season with three straight wins, beating the Tigers 86-76 in the final game of the men's portion of Lion Hoopsgiving presented by Best Western Plus at the Field House on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Tigers were down by five with three minutes and 12 seconds to go in the game, but tied it at 68 with 1:03 to go. Two straight free throws by Carson Tuttle (Mukilteo, Wash.) made it 70-68 with 36 seconds to go. Larenz Nero made a driving layup with 25 seconds to go to tie at 70. The Lions attempt to win the game at the end of the regulation bounced off the rim.
 
Roberson (DeSoto) scored the first points of overtime for either team at the 3:22 mark. He had eight made three pointers in the game, which ties Willie Rooks for second most in a single game in program history. Roberson scored 10 points in overtime.
 
Alphonso Willis (Atlanta, Ga.) hit two free throws and Roberson knocked down another three pointer to help the Lions start overtime on a 8-0 run.
 
A 5-0 run by the Tigers cut it to 80-76 with 44 seconds to go, but a four-point play on the other end by Roberson pushed the lead back up to eight. Roberson went 8 for 13 from beyond-the-arc and also made two free throws for 26 points. He also had five rebounds and two assists. Roberson knocked in a buzzer-beater to end the first half to give the Lions a 39-30 lead.
 
Willis, who made a buzzer-beater from the same range at UTSA earlier this season, had 23 points, nine rebounds, four assists, a steal, and drew five fouls. Tuttle had 12 points, two rebounds, and team-high six assists. Demarcus Demonia (Fort Washington, Md.) was two rebounds shy of his second double-double in as many nights. He scored 13 points, while grabbing eight rebounds and drawing four fouls.
 
The Lions shot 13 for 28 from outside the three point line and also made 13 of their 18 free throw attempts. Leo Lara (Santa Rosa, Texas) and JJ Romer Rosario (Hialeah Gardens, Fla.) made their season debuts on Saturday.
 
On the buzzer-beater by Roberson, the Lions grabbed their largest lead of the first half. The Tigers led by three at the 12:03 mark of the first half, which was their largest lead of the game. The Lions did not trail from that point of the first half, leading for 34 minutes and 26 seconds.
 
Clashon Gaffney (Clarksville) had five blocks in the game. He has had four blocks or more in every game thus far this season. Ma'Darius Hobson led the Tigers with 27 points off the bench on 11 for 20 shooting and also had team-leading eight rebounds.


 
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The Lions take a break from going against Division II opponents and conclude the stretch of three games in four days on Monday night in Mobile, Alabama with an exhibition game against South Alabama.