Ada, Oklahoma

A valiant comeback effort and a 14-3 run fell short as Texas A&M-Commerce dropped a 74-71 decision to host East Central on Wednesday night at the Kerr Dome.

The Lions went on a 14-3 run capped off by Champ Sylvester hit his sixth three pointer of the contest to get Texas A&M-Commerce within one, 65-64. The resilient Lions kept battling to tie the contest at 69 when Brad Brickens hit a jumper with 1:10 left in the contest.

After tying the contest at 69, Terrell Carpenter hit a lay up with 38 seconds to go in front, 71-69. He added to the ECU lead, making a pair of free throws to extend the margin to four, 73-69. Brickens hit another jumper to reduce the lead to 73-71 but the Lions needed to foul. Martel Jones fouled James Nave, who made one of two free throws to give Texas A&M-Commerce a last-chance effort. Jones came down with the rebound and found Kevin Widemond, who missed a game-tying three pointer with two seconds to go.

Texas A&M-Commerce got 45 of their 71 from the bench, including the 20 points from Sylvester. He was joined in double figures by Lance Jackson, who scored 15 and Brickens added 11. Ian Adams led four Tigers in double figures with 20 points, joining him in double figures was Jason Thomas (16 points), Carpenter (13 points) and Nave (11 points).

East Central started the game on a 17-3 run in the first nine minutes. The Lions worked the deficit down to as much as three on a pair of occasions in the first 20 minutes. ECU shot 53.8% in the first half - the second highest by an A&M-Commerce opponent and got 13 points from Adams, who made 5-of-7 shots. The Lions shot 40.7% in the first half and they were led by an eight-point effort from Sylvester.

The Lions return home for its next three games in a five-day span, starting with a match up on Saturday against Southeastern Oklahoma State at 4 pm at the A&M-Commerce Field House. Fans are encouraged to "Fill Up the Field House" as the contest will be a special CSTV web broadcast and the first 100 students will receive a t-shirt to the doubleheader.