No. 12 Southwestern Oklahoma State junior Clarke Hale hit a three pointer with less than a second remaining in regulation and scored four of the first six points in overtime to lead the host Bulldogs to a 85-78 overtime win over A&M-Commerce.

The Bulldogs (16-3, 4-0 LSC North) managed to outscore the Lions by a 12 to 5 margin in the extra period. Eight of the 12 points came from the free-throw line for the victors. Hale led five players from SWOSU in double digits with 18. He was joined by Nate Perry, who added 14, Brandon Nichols and Abdullah Lawal each poured in 13 and Kendall Smith added 10.

The Lions (8-12, 3-2 LSC North) got 18 points from senior Scooby Johnson to lead four A&M-Commerce players in double digits. Off the bench, juniors Derrick Darkis and Cedric Griffin scored 13 and 10 points, respectively. Senior Leonard Bishop added 10. IN the loss, A&M-Commerce shot 50.8% from the field.

Southwestern Oklahoma State started the second half with a 12-4 run; however, Darkis scored the next five points and a thunderous dunk by Johnson tied the game at 48 for the seventh time.

The Bulldogs regained the lead after Brandon Nichols made 1-of-2 free throws, but Jacobi Jackson threw down a dunk of his own and a lay up by Griffin put the Lions in front 52-49.

A&M-Commerce maintained the lead until the three pointer by Hale with three-tenths of a second left in the game tied the game at 75.

After an exchange of six ties, a lay up by Kevin Widemond with 13 seconds put the Lions in front to give A&M-Commerce a halftime lead for the 18th time in 19 games.

The two teams shot over 50% from the field in the first half. A&M-Commerce shot 51.7% from the field, including a 55.6% effort from beyond the three-point line. Bishop led the attack for the Lions with eight points on the strength of two three pointers and Brown and Johnson added seven points apiece.

The Lions will return to the court in a week, taking on Cameron on Wednesday, February 6th at 8:00 pm to wrap up its first half of the rigors of the Lone Star Conference North Division.