The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team is bringing home a win from the Aloha State after defeating the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, 53-51, on Wednesday night at the Stan Sherriff Center in front of 3,948 fans.
The Lions led for 32 minutes and 26 seconds against a team, that had trailed for under 19 minutes all season and led by as much as 14 points, which came in the second half, but the Rainbow Warriors made it a one-possession game in the final minute.
Following a three-pointer from Noah Coleman, the Lions were able to get the inbound pass off, but it bounced off an official and landed in the hands of Jovon McClanahan, who took a last-second three-point shot, which went in and would have given the Rainbow Warriors a 54-53 lead with 0.1 seconds left. After review, Hawaii got the ball with 1.8 seconds left and had a shot to win it, but it bounced off the rim.
The Lions have won three in a row to move to even .500 on the season at 4-4, while Hawaii falls to 5-2 on the season, it had won its last three games coming into Wednesday's game. Demarcus Demonia (Fort Washington, Md.) led the Lions in scoring with 13 points, while C.J. Roberts (Irving – Richland) and Khaliq Abdul-Mateen (Cy-Lakes) had 11 points each.
The Lions scored the first two points of the game, but the Rainbow Warriors scored the next six to take their largest lead of the game. The Lions served back with a 9-0 run to lead 11-6 and trailed just once in the rest of the game.
Abdul-Mateen shot 4 for 6 from the field and made three of his four three-point attempts for 11 points. He knocked down a three-pointer at the 16:06 mark of the second half to give the Lions a 14-point lead, which was the largest lead of the night. It was always the largest deficit of the game for Hawaii this season.
A 9-0 run by Hawaii brought the deficit down to five, the Lion lead did not reach double digits again the rest of the game. Samuta Avea made a two-point jumper to bring the Rainbow Warriors to within five with four seconds left. After a Lion turnover, Coleman's three-pointer made it a one-possession game.
The Lions had the 43-31 advantage in rebounding with Adbul-Mateen grabbing eight. Alex Peavy (San Antonio – Smithson Valley), Kalen Williams (Hephzibah, Ga.), Alonzo Dodd (St. Paul, Minn.), Jerome Brewer, Jr. (Camden, N.J.) had five rebounds each. Roberts had team-leading three assists.
Coleman led the Rainbow Warriors with 18 points, Bernardo Da Silva had 10 rebounds, while Kamaka Hepa and Jovon McClanahan had three assists each.
Original source can be found here.
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