COMMERCE – A 21-1 run over a span of 10 minutes in the second half while trailing by 12 was all that the Lamar Cardinals needed to secure a 69-62 come-from-behind win over the East Texas A&M University men's basketball team on Wednesday on the Hunt Regional Healthcare Court in the Field House.
 
In a game where both teams had a lead as big as eight, the Lions found themselves trailing 25-20 at the 5:47 mark of the first half and then took a 18-0 run into second half as the Cardinals did not score a point for nearly eight minutes of game play.
 
The Lions' largest lead in the game was 13, which came at the 17:29 mark of the second half. The Cardinals found themselves down 46-35 with 14:31 left in the second, but then scored the next 19 over a span of nine minutes to go ahead 56-46, their largest lead in the game.
 
A string of four points in a row did bring the Lions within 57-55, but then the next four were scored by Lamar, who went up 61-55 at the 1:21 mark and did not trail by less than four the rest of the game.
 
The Lions have lost three in a row to fall to 6-8 on the season and now 1-3 against Southland opponents, while Lamar is 7-6 overall and 2-2 against SLC opponents.
 
There were a total of four lead changes and two ties in the game. In the second half, Lamar shot 50 percent from the field and 10 for 12 at the line, while the Lions shot 29.2 percent from the field and 10 for 12 at the line as well.  
 
Ronnie Harrison (Forney) scored 19 points for the Lions along with six rebounds, two assists, and two steals, while Gianni Hunt (Lakewood, Calif.) added 12 points, four assists, and four rebounds, and Damian Garcia (Houston – Dobie) had 10 points, four rebounds, and two blocks.
 
For the Cardinals, Adnrew Holifield totaled 16 points, with King-Njhsanni White adding 12 and Rob Lee Jr. scoring 13.
 

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The next two come on the road for the Lions as they head to Nicholls on Saturday at 3 p.m. and then New Orleans on Monday at 7 p.m.