Lions Knock Off Top-Seed Tarleton, Advance To Finals - Lone Star Conference Skip To Main Content
Vladimir Cherry

Men's Basketball By Nick Eatman

Lions Knock Off Top-Seed Tarleton, Advance To Finals

What a difference six days can make. Texas A&M-Commerce avenged a 20-point loss just last Sunday to Tarleton State by upsetting the No. 1 seed in the Lone Star Conference Championship Friday night at the Allen Event Center.

      The fourth-seeded Lions led most of the way but had to stave off a 3-point attempt by Texans guard Mo Lee. The miss clanged off the left side of the rim just before the final buzzer, giving Commerce the 53-51 win to advance to their first LSC Championship final since 2008, the first year the conference moved the tournament to a neutral site.

      The Lions will advance to play No. 2 seed Angelo State Saturday night, marking the first time since 2008 that neither Tarleton nor Midwestern State won’t be in the final game.

      The Texans (27-3) missed out a sixth straight appearance in the LSC Championship final after making it five consecutive years and winning the last two.

      Texas A&M-Commerce standout Darrell Williams, the league’s Player of the Year, didn’t post another 20-20 game in points and rebounds like he did Thursday against West Texas A&M, but wasn’t far off. Williams had 20 points and 12 boards to lead the way against the Texans. Ladon Carnegie had 12 points and four steals.

      The only Tarleton player in double figures was E.J. Reed, who had 15 points and four steals.

      The Texans shot 40 percent in both the first and second half from the floor, which was considerably higher than the Lions, who made only four of 21 field goals in the second, but managed to hold on thanks to 10-of-12 shooting from the line in the second half.

      Late in the game, Commerce held a 51-48 lead before Tarleton’s Malcolm Hamilton cut the lead to one with a driving layup with 2:21 to play. Williams countered with two made free throws with 1:17 left. Lee went to the line for the Texans but made just one. But after a blocked shot, the Texans got the ball back and had an inbounds play with 10 seconds left after a timeout. Lee took the ball at the top and fired a 25-footer shot that rimmed off.

      The Lions advance to the finals to play an ASU team they defeated late in the regular season to earn the season split.

      The Texans will hope to remain No. 1 in the South Central Region rankings with the chance to host next week’s tournament in Stephenville.

Texas A&M-Commerce Press Conference: http://t.co/002ipKhAPe

Tarleton State Press Conference: http://t.co/nSw93wExQr



Texas A&M-Commerce Notes
  • Darrell Williams logged a double-double for the second consecutive game in the LSC Tournament, scoring 20 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, adding a block and a steal. It was the 21st double-double of the LSC Player of the Year’s season.
  • LaDon Carnegie scored 12 points. It was the 18th time this season Carnegie reached double-digit scoring. Carnegie also logged a game-high four steals, which matched his season-high set in the win against Sul Ross State in the third game of the season. Carnegie played a team-high 36 minutes.
  • The game started with both teams struggling from the field. With 13:07 to go in the first half, the teams combined to go 3 of 13 shooting.
  • With the win, the Lions are now 27-32 all-time in the LSC Tournament, and 3-3 in LSC Tournament games held in the Allen Event Center.
  • This was the 63rd game played between the Lions and Texans. The Lions improve their record to 30-33 in the series.
  • Head coach Sam Walker moves to 249-179 overall.
 
Tarleton State Notes
  • Tarleton State had a seven-game winning streak at the conference tournament come to an end and is now 10-4 all-time in the semifinal round of the tournament
  • The loss ends Tarleton State’s two-year reign as conference champions
  • TSU is now 27-14 in 17 tournament appearances in its program history… The Texans are now 9-2 in tournament games played at the Allen Events Center
  • The Texans had their 14-game winning streak snapped with the loss… TSU last suffered a loss this season against Midwestern State on Jan. 14 in a 78-76 game in Stephenville
  • TSU is now 2-1 against Commerce this season after sweeping the regular-season series, but falling on Friday in the tournament… The Texans are 5-2 against A&M-Commerce all-time in the LSC tournament following the loss
  • EJ Reed, who came into the game averaging 8.6 points per game, led the Texans with 15 points… He was the lone Texan in double-digits in the game