ABILENE – After weeks of needing help from others to stay alive in the race for the final spot in the Lone Star Conference Post-Season Tournament, the ACU Wildcats can now only look to themselves as they try to get back to the tournament for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
The Wildcats had a chance to put one foot in the door of the tournament Wednesday night, but couldn't close the door on Texas A&M-Commerce as the Lions stole one from the Wildcats, 75-72, at Moody Coliseum.
A win would have given ACU a one-game lead over Angelo State in the race for the final spot and eliminated Commerce. However, the Wildcats, Rams and Lions are now tied at 4-13 in league play. ACU has to beat Tarleton State in Stephenville on Saturday in order to earn the final berth in the tournament. The Wildcats haven't beaten the Texans in Stephenville since 1998.
Wednesday night's game came down to the way the game played out at the end of each half.
In the first half, the Wildcats led 29-22 with 4:42 to play after a Ben Milam jumper, but the Lions outscored ACU 11-2 in the final 4:27 to carry a 33-31 lead into halftime.
But it was the decisive final 4:49 of the game that could prove fatal to the Wildcats' chances of reaching the post-season.
Antonio Bell – who led all scorers with 23 points – buried a 3-pointer from the left wing to give ACU a 67-69 lead and all the momentum.
But the Lions – who have now won two straight after a four-game losing streak to get back into tournament contention – wouldn't go away. A jumper by Brand Hambrick drew the Lions to within 67-61 with 4:40 to play and then a 3-pointer by Preston Whitley made it 67-64 with 3:53 to go.
Hambrick then hit two free throws with three minutes to play before Whitley converted a three-point play to make it 69-67 with 2:16 left.
The Lions would push their lead to as many as four points in the final two minutes before ACU cut it to 71-70 with 1:10 to go on a
Zach Williams free throw. On their ensuing possession, the Lions ran the shot clock down to seven seconds before being forced to call a timeout. As the clock wound down to zero, Whitley went airborne for a 3-pointer and was fouled by
Kendall Durant as he came down.
Whitley hit the final two of three free throws for a 73-70 lead. But ACU got to within 73-72 with 24 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Durant when he was fouled by Desmond King on a drive to the basket. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Whitley saw it go off his hands out of bounds, giving the Wildcats the ball with a chance to take the last shot for the win.
Durant drove into the middle of the lane and tried to hit Bell, who was spotting up for a 3-pointer. But his pass was picked off by Devondrick Walker and
Armani Williams fouled him, sending him to the line with eight seconds to play.
Walker hit both free throws with eight seconds left, forcing the Wildcats to try a game-tying 3-pointer with time running out. But Durant again lost control of the ball and the Lions were able to run the clock out on the win.
