ACU Men Fall To Texas A&M/Commerce
By: Lance Fleming, ACU Assistant Director of Athletics for Media Relations
Updated: December 4, 2012
ABILENE - For the fourth straight game, the ACU Wildcats went down to the wire, and for the second straight game they suffered a crushing defeat at Moody Coliseum.
In Saturday night's 62-60 loss to Eastern New Mexico, the Wildcats gave up a game-winning layup with one second left. Tuesday night, the Wildcats rallied from an 88-78 deficit with 2:02 to play only to see Tyrie Wooten hit a driving layup with 2.4 seconds left to give Texas A&M-Commerce a 90-88 victory in Lone Star Conference men's basketball action.
The Wildcats' last four games have been decided by two points (75-73 win over Dallas Baptist), one point (59-58 at West Texas A&M), two points (62-60 loss to ENMU) and two points (90-88 loss to Commerce). ACU is now 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the LSC and will return to action Saturday at 7 p.m. when it takes on Tarleton State at Wisdom Gym in Stephenville.
ACU enjoyed a 68-63 lead with 9:06 to play before the Lions went on a 25-10 run to grab an 88-78 lead with 2:02 to play. Andrew Davis had eight of the Lions' points in the run, while Preston Whitley had seven, including a layup with 2:02 to play to give his team a 10-point lead.
But the Wildcats wouldn't die as they outscored the Lions 10-0 to tie the score at 88-88. Dosh Simms scored the first three points in the run with a free throw and then a layup at the 1:13 mark to make it 88-81.
Eric Lawtonhit a layup with 55 seconds left to make it 88-83. After a Commerce miss, Lawton grabbed the rebound and hit a driving layup with 40 seconds left to cut the Lions' lead to 88-85.
Wooten then threw the ball away to give the ball back to the Wildcats. ACU freshman guard Parker Wentz then took a pass from Lawton and buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the score and send the crowd of 2,100 into a frenzy.
But armed with the last shot and no shot clock, Wooten ran the clock down, drove the right side of the lane, split two Wildcat defenders and spun a layup in off the glass. Lawton missed a running 3-pointer at the buzzer as Commerce escaped town with the win.
The Lions - who led 37-36 at halftime - blistered the nets in the game's final 20 minutes, shooting 71.4 percent (20 of 28) in the second half to grab the victory. ACU hit 22 of 37 shots in the second half (59.5 percent), but only hit 4 of 9 free throws in the second half, continuing a season-long trend. The Wildcats were only 7 of 16 from the charity stripe and are now just 65 of 113 (57.5 percent) from the free throw line on the season.
Lawton led the Wildcats with 24 points on 9 of 19 shooting, while Cornelius Cammock came off the bench to score 14 points (7 of 12 from the field). Steven Werner had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats.
In Saturday night's 62-60 loss to Eastern New Mexico, the Wildcats gave up a game-winning layup with one second left. Tuesday night, the Wildcats rallied from an 88-78 deficit with 2:02 to play only to see Tyrie Wooten hit a driving layup with 2.4 seconds left to give Texas A&M-Commerce a 90-88 victory in Lone Star Conference men's basketball action.
The Wildcats' last four games have been decided by two points (75-73 win over Dallas Baptist), one point (59-58 at West Texas A&M), two points (62-60 loss to ENMU) and two points (90-88 loss to Commerce). ACU is now 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the LSC and will return to action Saturday at 7 p.m. when it takes on Tarleton State at Wisdom Gym in Stephenville.
ACU enjoyed a 68-63 lead with 9:06 to play before the Lions went on a 25-10 run to grab an 88-78 lead with 2:02 to play. Andrew Davis had eight of the Lions' points in the run, while Preston Whitley had seven, including a layup with 2:02 to play to give his team a 10-point lead.
But the Wildcats wouldn't die as they outscored the Lions 10-0 to tie the score at 88-88. Dosh Simms scored the first three points in the run with a free throw and then a layup at the 1:13 mark to make it 88-81.
Eric Lawtonhit a layup with 55 seconds left to make it 88-83. After a Commerce miss, Lawton grabbed the rebound and hit a driving layup with 40 seconds left to cut the Lions' lead to 88-85.
Wooten then threw the ball away to give the ball back to the Wildcats. ACU freshman guard Parker Wentz then took a pass from Lawton and buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the score and send the crowd of 2,100 into a frenzy.
But armed with the last shot and no shot clock, Wooten ran the clock down, drove the right side of the lane, split two Wildcat defenders and spun a layup in off the glass. Lawton missed a running 3-pointer at the buzzer as Commerce escaped town with the win.
The Lions - who led 37-36 at halftime - blistered the nets in the game's final 20 minutes, shooting 71.4 percent (20 of 28) in the second half to grab the victory. ACU hit 22 of 37 shots in the second half (59.5 percent), but only hit 4 of 9 free throws in the second half, continuing a season-long trend. The Wildcats were only 7 of 16 from the charity stripe and are now just 65 of 113 (57.5 percent) from the free throw line on the season.
Lawton led the Wildcats with 24 points on 9 of 19 shooting, while Cornelius Cammock came off the bench to score 14 points (7 of 12 from the field). Steven Werner had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats.
