Texas Tech Athletics
Texas A&M-Commerce
Red Raiders Fall In Overtime To Lions
November 08, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Texas Tech's Justin Gray came off the bench to lead the Red Raiders with 14 points and five rebounds in his collegiate debut.
November 8, 2014
BOX SCORE ¦ BOX SCORE 
¦ POSTGAME NOTES ¦ POSTGAME QUOTES
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech battled back from a 10-point deficit on Saturday night to send the game into overtime, but it wasn't enough as Texas A&M-Commerce left United Supermarkets Arena with a 72-69 overtime exhibition win.
"This is just what we needed tonight," said Red Raider head coach Tubby Smith. "We got it in to overtime, we came from behind, we battled the boards with a good rebounding team -- they were beating us on the boards at half time, we came back and evened it up. We made some free throws at some clutch times, especially by Zach (Smith) and Keenan (Evans) and Justin (Gray), so I was impressed with our freshmen. It gave me a lot more confidence in our freshmen. We had 44 points from the bench tonight, and that's what's going to be critical for us."
Texas Tech trailed for the majority of the game, as the Red Raiders struggled to make a basket. The Red Raiders trailed by as much as seven in the first half only to chip away at the Lion lead and go into the half tied, 25-25.
Texas A&M-Commerce led for more than 16 minutes in the second half, extending the margin to as much as eight, 45-37, with 10:35 to play.
Smith substituted in the youth movement with 10 minutes to play and the five underclassmen went to work.
The Lions jumped out to a 10-point lead twice, with the last coming at 7:10 to go in the game. The Red Raiders then road Smith and Gray, who combined for 11 of Texas Tech's final 20 points in regulation.
Trailing 61-54 with 1:31 to play, Zach Smith nailed a 3-pointer for the Red Raiders to cut the margin to four. After a defensive stop, Onwuasor notched a putback to make it a two-point game with 30 seconds to play.
On the ensuing possession Smith was fouled and the freshman went to the line and drained two free throws to tie the game, 61-61, with 16 seconds left.
Anthony Adams missed the potential game-winner for Texas A&M-Commerce and the game went to overtime.
It took almost two minutes into overtime before the Lions' J.R. Owens connected on a 3-pointer to give Texas A&M-Commerce the lead for good.
The Lions built its overtime lead to five, 72-67, before Keenan Evans hit a runner in the lane with eight seconds left. Evans then stole the inbounds pass, but his 3-pointer was off target and the Lions held on for the win.
Texas Tech will tip-off the season on Friday, as the Red Raiders host Loyola (Md.) at 8 p.m. at United Supermarkets Arena, following the Lady Raiders' 5:30 p.m. matchup against Jacksonville State. Season tickets or tickets for the opener can be purchased on online at www.texastech.com or by calling (806)742-8324.
