Feb. 28, 2006

Final Stats

STEPHENVILLE, Texas -With 2:15 left and up by six, the Lions (16-12) were outscored 9-2 by the Texans to fall short 71-70 in the first-round of the LSC Men's Basketball Tournament.

A&M-Commerce was up by six in the first half, 35-29 scoring in the first minutes of the second to go up by eight, 37-29. Tarleton State came back going on a 10-0 run with 6:20 into the final half tying the game at 37. A&M-Commerce regained the lead to take sole possession of the game and go up by as much as eight. With 1:18 left in the game and the Lions up by four, 68-64, Tarleton State came back to be down by two, on a Jermart Miller turnover with 38 ticks on the clock.

The Lions continued to lead, and with 18 seconds left Junior Derek Atwood hits a 3-point shot to put the Texans within one and a Lions possession. The Lions inbounded the ball attempting to kill time on the clock and make the final shot to seal the game, when the Texans forced a turnover on Miller as he was passing the ball, forcing a jump ball with 12.12 seconds left and the possession arrow going against A&M-C into the hands of Tarleton.

The Lions fought hard defensively to keep their one-point lead and advance on to the Semis, but Tarleton had another thing in mind. Derek Williams found himself open behind the arc hitting the shot and putting the Texans up by one 71-70. With three seconds left the Lions went for what they have done all year. Fantroy threw a long pass to Lamar Searight who has been hot from behind the arc in the past four games, for an attempt to take the win, but time expired as did the Lions season.

The Lions shot excellent from the field shooting 27-of-51 (53%) as well as 8-of-12 behind the line.

Three Lions scored in double figures for the night. Junior guard Lamar Searight led the way with 16 points, while Chris Fantroy knocked in 14. Jason Rabb also contributed with double digits scoring 12 and led the team with eight rebounds.

Only two scored in double figures for the Texans. John Davis led Tarleton State with 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Derek Atwood scored 15 points.

A&M-Commerce ended the 2005-06 season with a 16-12 overall record and 6-6 league mark. The Lions came into the tournament ranked fourth in the LSC North Division.