COMMERCE – Despite trailing by 21 points with less than 10 minutes left in Monday night's game at the Hunt Regional Healthcare Court in the Field House, the East Texas A&M University men's basketball team rallied to make it a one-point game in the final minute, but the Houston Christian Huskies hung on for a 69-68 win.
 
The Lions used a 13-1 run to come within 57-48 at the 6:06 mark of the second half and then came within one with 33 seconds left in the game on a three-pointer by Gianni Hunt (Lakewood, Calif.).
 
After the Huskies hit a pair of free throws on the other end with 12 seconds left to go back up by three. The Huskies fouled the Lions up three and Hunt hit both free throws.
 
On the other end, the Huskies missed the front end of a one-and-one but grabbed the rebound as the clock expired.
 
The Lions fall to 11-19 overall and 6-14 in Southland Conference play with two regular season games left, while the Huskies went 2-0 over the Lions this season, while being 11-18 overall and 7-13 in conference play.
 
East Texas A&M is still mathematically alive for a berth into the eight-team conference tournament going into next weekend but must win both of its remaining games and need some help from other teams around the conference.
 
The two teams exchanged the lead for the first 12 minutes of the game, but a 12-0 run by the Huskies put them up 34-21 at the 1:55 mark of the first half and did not trail again in the game.
 
The Lions shot 7 for 15 from deep in the second half, with both teams shooting above 40 percent from the field in the game.
 
Hunt finished the game with 25 points, going 5 for 7 from deep and 8 for 8 at the line. He also added four rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Damian Garcia (Houston – Dobie) added 15 points, while Demarco Bethea led HCU with 15 points and nine rebounds.
 
UP NEXT
The Lions begin their final road trip of the season at UTRGV on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.