SAN ANTONIO – Kalen Williams' clutch shooting led to the Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team defeating UIW, 76-72, in overtime on Monday night at the McDermott Center.
The Lions improve to 4-10 in Southland Conference play with the win and four games left in the regular season. A&M-Commerce leads UIW by 0.5 game and holds the head-to-head tiebreaker for the final spot into the conference tournament. A&M-Commerce is 10-17 overall.
Shon Robinson hit a three-pointer for UIW at the 1:03 mark of the second half and it put the Cardinals up 66-61.
Kalen Williams (Augusta, Ga.) was fouled on the other end while shooting a three. He went 2 for 3 at the line. The Cardinals attempted a three that was missed and got the offensive rebound, being immediately fouled by the Lions.
UIW missed both attempts at the line and gave the ball back to A&M-Commerce with nine seconds to go.
Kwo Agwa (Calgary, Canada) got the rebound and passed it to Williams.
Williams dribbled all the way to the three-point line and swished a three-pointer with 0.9 seconds left. UIW did not get a shot attempt on the other end.
KALEN WILLIAMS GAME-TYING SHOT HIGHLIGHT
A&M-Commerce scored the first two points in overtime, but UIW tied it with a jumper on the other end.
Alonzo Dodd (St. Paul, Minn.) scored the first four points for A&M-Commerce in overtime, putting the Lions up by two and Williams added a jumper to give the Lions a 72-68 lead with 3:03 left in overtime.
The Cardinals went on a 4-0 run and tied the game at 72 with 40 seconds left. It was Williams once again that had the big shot and put the Lions up for good, who added a free throw from Agwa.
KALEN WILLIAMS GAME-WINNING SHOT HIGHLIGHT
To start the game, the first three made baskets for the Lions came from the distance as they went on a 12-0 scoring run after UIW started the game with a two-point jumper.
Tommie Lewis (Vero Beach, Fla.) converted an and-one at the 16:25 mark of the first half, which was the fourth possession that the Lions scored three points on.
UIW used a 14-0 run over a stretch of over five minutes to retake the lead in the game at 18-15. A&M-Commerce answered with a 7-0 scoring run of its own to jump out front by four once again and did not trail again in the first half.
The Lions closed out the first half on a 14-4 run to lead 36-25 at the half. A&M-Commerce's eight of the 13 made field goals in the first half was from the distance. On the other end, the Cardinals went 0 for 7 outside the arc, being limited to just 25 points in the first half.
Through the first four minutes of the second half, both teams matched each other in scoring as A&M-Commerce had a 41-30 lead. The Cardinals then used a 11-1 run to make it a one-point game at the 12:35 mark of the second half.
During the scoring drought, the Lions shot 1 for 5 from the field and went five minutes without a made field goal, while going 2 for 4 at the line, during the stretch. The Cardinals tied the game at 43 with a dunk from Shon Robinson at the 10:06 mark, which was the first time the game was tied since 18-18.
After a defensive stop, the Cardinals drew another foul and went 2 for 2 at the line to take a 45-43 lead with 9:31 left in the game, which was their first lead since the 9:52 mark of the first half.
Dodd drilled a layup at the 9:13 mark to tie the game, which the first Lion made basket from the field since 16:14 left in the game. UIW charged all the way to lead 61-52 at the 3:19 mark, which was its largest lead of the game.
The Lions used a 7-0 run, while holding the Cardinals to shoot 0 for 4 to make it a two-point game with 2:12 left in the game.
Dodd led the team with 20 points, while Williams scored 16, Agwa added 13, and Lewis scored 12.
A joint statement from A&M-Commerce and UIW in regards to post game can be found
HERE.
UP NEXT
The Lions are back in action on Saturday at Nicholls, with tip-off scheduled for 3 p.m.
-TAMUC-
