Lions Win in Dramatic Fashion Over Eastern New Mexico

Texas A&M University-Commerce senior Ashley Murphy (pictured) hit a jumper with less than a second left to lead the visiting Lions to a 68-67 win over host Eastern New Mexico on Saturday evening in Portales, New Mexico.

The host Zias had took their only lead of the game with nine seconds to go on a Cat Clay jumper. Following an A&M-Commerce timeout, first year head coach Nicole Anderson went to Murphy for the game-winning basket.

A&M-Commerce (3-4) led for most of the contest and landed four players in double digits as junior Genevieve Campbell hit six three pointers for a team-high 18 points. She was joined in double digits by Nakazi Glover and Mattilyn McIntyre, who each scored 13 and Murphy added 12 in the win.

Eastern New Mexico (4-7) had three players in double figures as Clay had a double double with a game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. Teammates Til-Lois Fifer and Tori Northcutt each had 12.

The two teams were tied three times in the opening 3:43 in the game but an Anisha Ingram jumper gave A&M-Commerce a lead it would hold for most of the contest. The Lions built the advantage to 11 in each half.

With a 56-45 lead after a Glover three pointer, Eastern New Mexico went on a 13-5 spurt to cut the deficit to three, 61-58, on a lay up by Fifer with 3:37 remaining in the game. The Lions built up the advantage to six on a Campbell three pointer but the Zias managed to score seven of the next nine points in the game to take a one-point lead on the Clay jumper.

The Lions withstood the come-from-behind effort for the win as they held Eastern New Mexico to just 33.8% shooting from the field. In the win, A&M-Commerce hit 11 three pointers and made 39.7% of their field goals.

Next up for A&M-Commerce is a contest against West Texas A&M in Canyon on Monday at 4 p.m. The game can be heard live on KETR (88.9 FM or www.ketr.org).