NEW ORLEANS – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team stormed back from being down 13 in the second half on Monday afternoon, but a last-second game-tying layup came up short as New Orleans picked up an 88-85 win at Lakefront Arena.
 
The game was tied at 80 with 1:54 left in the game and the Lions took an 82-81 lead with 1:18 left, which was their first and only lead of the game. The Privateers converted an and-one just 13 seconds later to re-take the lead and extended it to 86-82 with 47 seconds left.
 
After a three pointer by Jerome Brewer Jr. (Camden, N.J.), the Lions forced a missed jumper on the other end and got the defensive rebound, but the Privateers forced a turnover at midcourt and hit one free throw to lead 87-85 with 12 seconds left.
 
The Lions had a clean look at the basket to tie the game, but the layup from Tommie Lewis (Vero Beach, Fla.) came up short and the Privateers got the ball with a second left and went 1 for 2 at the line again. The Lions were not able to get a shot up before the final buzzer.
 
UNO led by as much as 13 in the second half, with Jordan Johnson scoring 36 points for the Privateers. He scored 26 of the team's 51 points in the second half.
 
The Lions have lost three in a row and drop to 6-9 on the season and 0-2 in Southland Conference play. New Orleans improves to 6-9 as well and is now 1-1 in Southland play. A&M-Commerce has started 0-2 in conference play for the first time since 2011-12.
 
The Privateers scored the first six points of the game. The Lions cut to within 8-6, but UNO had a lead as big as 11 in the first half. A&M-Commerce went on a 12-2 run to trim the Privateer lead down to 29-28 and Kalen Williams (Augusta, Ga.) hit three free throws to tie the game at 31. UNO scored six of the final eight points of the first half to lead 37-33 at the half.
 
The Lions scored the first three points of the second half on an and-one by Lewis, but the Privateers extended their lead to as big as 11 in the first four minutes of the second half. New Orleans' biggest lead in the second half was 13 points.
 
Despite New Orleans shooting 5 for 6, the Lions went on a 7-0 run in less than a minute to pull to 77-75 with 3:20 left. The deficit was the smallest since the first play of the second half.
 
VJ Reeves Jr. (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) drilled a three-pointer at the 1:54 mark of the second half to tie the game at 80.
 
Lewis led the team with 20 points, adding three rebounds and two steals as well. Brewer Jr. totaled four blocks as well as 16 points and team-high eight rebounds. Williams added 11 points, while Reeves scored 13 off the bench, shooting 5 for 8 from the field and made three of the team's 10 three-pointers.
 
Alonzo Dodd (St. Paul, Minn.) racked up team-high four assists and scored eight points as well. The Lions shot 46 percent in the second half, 40 percent from deep, and 10 for 12 at the line. In the first half, the Lions shot 7 for 15 at the line.
 
For the Privateers, Johnson shot 10 for 19 from the field and 14 for 16 at the line for his 36 points. UNO made 29 of its 38 attempts at the line, while shooting 61 percent from the field in the second half.

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The Lions open up a two-game home stand next week, hosting Houston Christian at 1 p.m. on Saturday and UIW next Monday at 1 p.m. Tickets for both games can be purchased at www.LionAthletics.com/Tickets.