BEAUMONT – Playing the first overtime game of the season, the East Texas A&M University men's basketball team came up just short of the Lamar Cardinals, 61-58, on Saturday evening at Neches Arena.
 
East Texas A&M held a 51-50 lead with 1:29 left in regulation, but the Cardinals pulled ahead 52-51 with 1:10 left. On the next possession, the Lions went 1 for 2 at the line to tie the game at 52. Both teams had one final possession at the end of regulation and both teams came up empty.
 
Saturday was the first overtime game of the season for the Lions. Neither side scored a point through the first 90 seconds of the overtime period until both teams exchanged a pair of free throws.
 
The Cardinals then put together a 5-0 run to take a 59-54 lead at the 2:24 mark. The Lions answered with four straight points of their own, all coming at the free-throw line. After a pair of free throws on the other end, the Lions got the ball back with 24 seconds to go, but the game-tying three-pointer came up short.
 
The loss drops the Lions to 2-18 on the season and now 0-9 against Southland Conference opponents, while Lamar improves to 11-9 overall, 6-3 in SLC action, and has won three in a row over East Texas A&M.
 
The Lions led for the entirety of the first half, leading by as much as 11. Neither team scored through the first 3:48 of the game and the Lions scored 10 of the first 12 points of the game, holding the Cardinals to just two points through the first eight minutes.
 
Outside of the start to the game, Lamar used a 6-2 run to come within three at the 3:40 mark of the first half, which was the smallest margin in the first half.
 
The Lions led 27-23 at the half and started the second half scoring the first five to push the lead back up to nine, but a 10-0 run by the Cardinals gave them their first lead of the game. East Texas A&M was held scoreless for over three minutes.
 
After no lead changes through the first 24:41 minutes of the game, the lead was changed three times on as many possessions. Lamar continued its scoring run and extended its lead to as big as six.
 
In the second half, the Lions made their first two shots but missed eight of their next nine. Lamar started the second half shooting 6 for 9 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers.
 
The Lions rallied from being down six by scoring the next seven and took-back a 41-40 lead with 10:23 to play on a three-pointer from Khaliq Abdul-Mateen (Cy-Fair). Lamar was held scoreless for over four minutes as the Lions built back a three-point lead.
 
Both teams went scoreless for over two minutes after the Cardinals tied the game at 43. The Lions had a stretch of five minutes without a field goal, allowing Lamar to come back from down three to lead by four.
 
Following a layup from Evan Phelps (Duncanville) to end the scoring drought, the Lions forced a turnover and an and-one from Scooter Williams Jr. (Chattanooga, Tenn.) put the Lions back ahead 48-47 with 4:05 to play.
 
Off the bench, Williams Jr. scored 12 to lead the Lions, while TJ Thomas (Memphis, Tenn.) added 11 and team-best eight rebounds. Abdul-Mateen scored eight. Lamar's Alexis Marmolejos had game-high 24 points.
 
The Lions went 13 for 21 at the line in the game, while Lamar went 14 for 18.
 

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The Lions head to SFA on Monday night at 7:30 p.m.