Trailing by four points at halftime, the UAFS men's basketball team began the second half against Cameron with what appeared would be a game-breaking run for the Lions, who surged ahead of the Aggies by 10 points with 14 minutes left in the game.

The Lions, however, couldn't deliver the knockout blow they needed to put away the Aggies.

Cameron rallied from the double-digit deficit to beat UAFS 91-86 on Tuesday night in the Coca-Cola UAFS Holiday Classic at the Stubblefield Center.

UAFS will finish the four-team, two-day classic at 5 p.m. on Wednesday when it plays the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers. Cameron will play the Rogers State Hillcats at 3 p.m. in the early game. Live statistics and live stream will be available for both games. 

It will be the Lions' final game of the first semester. They will resume play on Monday, Jan. 7, when they host the Randall Saints at 7 p.m. at the Stubblefield Center.

The Lions (4-8) and Aggies (4-6) split their regular-season series with UAFS beating Cameron 83-75 at Aggie Gym in Lawton, Okla., on Nov. 27. The Aggies, who have now won two in a row, beat their second Heartland Conference foe in as many opportunities. Cameron was coming off an 88-77 win against Lubbock Christian on Saturday at Aggie Gym.

Cameron shot 52 percent from the field in making its late comeback, sinking 15 of 29 shots in the final 20 minutes. The Aggies shot 49 percent from the field for the game (30 of 61) – they were 7-of-15 shooting from 3-point range – and shot 71 percent from the free-throw line (24 of 34).

Junior guard Jordan Lewis had 21 points to lead Cameron, which led 42-38 at halftime. Junior forward Chris Royal had 15 points, senior guard Tyus Momoh had 14 points and junior forward Jalen Nicholas had 12 points.

Freshman guard Andrew Nguyen had a team-high nine rebounds off the bench.

UAFS shot 52 percent in the second half in building their double-digit lead (17 of 33) and finished the game shooting 47 percent from the field (30 of 64) – they were 17-of-34 shooting from 3-point range – and 75 percent from the free-throw line (9 of 12).

Junior guard Tyler Williams had 23 points to lead the Lions, while freshman forward David Ward and junior guard Seth Hawley had 18 points apiece, junior guard Kei'shon Parker had 11 points off the bench and senior guard Chris Crawford had 10 points.

Hawley and Williams each had five 3-pointers, while Ward had three.

The Lions out-rebounded the Aggies by six rebounds (39-33). Crawford had a team-high eight rebounds and eight assists.

Crawford sank a pair of free throws with 13:56 left to play that gave the Lions a 61-51 lead – their largest lead of the game. The Aggies answered with a 22-2 run over the next six minutes to turn their 10-point deficit into a 10-point lead (73-63) on a layup by Royal.

UAFS got as close as four points in the final seven minutes – a 3-pointer by Hawley made it 73-69 with 6:01 left to play – but Cameron pushed its lead back to as much as an 11-point lead twice with the last time (85-74) coming on a layup by Momoh with a minute to play.
 
 
MEN
COCA-COLA UAFS HOLIDAY CLASSIC
CAMERON 91, UAFS 86
Cameron          42        49        --          91
UAFS              38        48        --          86
Cameron (4-6): Lewis 21, Royal 15, Momoh 14, Nicholas 12, Dumas 8, Nguyen 7, Scott 5, Schreiner 5, Green 4
UAFS (4-8): Williams 23, Ward 18, Hawley 18, Parker 11, Ekezie 2, Sivins 2, Bowie 2