With a chance to steal a win the final seconds, A&M-Commerce guard Cardell Hunter just missed a game-winning 3-point attempt as the buzzer sounded, giving Texas A&M-Kingsville a hard-fought victory.

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With the 50-48 quarterfinal win Thursday night at Bruin Fieldhouse, the Javelinas (19-9) kept their chances of making the South Central Regional tournament alive.

TAMU-Commerce will advance to Saturday's semifinal round to face the winner of Midwestern State-Cameron.

In a defensive struggle from start to finish, Texas A&M-Kingsville had several key stops down the stretch.

Leading 49-48 with less than 30 seconds, Kingsville teammates Anthony Jones and Flavio Milam had consecutive blocks under the basket. However, Commerce still had possession but Hunter's driving layup missed and the Javelinas cleared the rebound and Royce Gaye drew a foul with only 4.6 seconds to go.

But Gaye made just one free throw, Hunter had a second chance for the win. He spun twice the ball as moved into the frontcourt but his running 3-point attempt rimmed off.

Adam Montalvo led the Javelinas with 16 points, while Clyde Johnson added 10 points.

Kingsville is currently ranked eighth in the South Central rankings, with the top eight advancing.

For Commerce, its season likely comes to an end despite winning eight of its last 10 games to claim the No. 2 seed in the North Division.

The Lions were led by DeUndrae Spraggins' 11 points. Rashad Brown had 10 points and seven rebounds.

With the game tied at 46 in the final two minutes, Kingsville guard Wendell Mulkey broke the tie with a free throw, the first and only point of the game for the All-LSC first-team South Division selection. But when Mukley's second free throw missed, Milam tipped the ball out to a teammate for another possession. Milam then scored moments later to give his team a three-point lead.

Kingsville's win was the school's first LSC championship victory since 2004. It was also the first win of the day by the South Division, after Southwestern Oklahoma and Central Oklahoma claimed wins in the first quarterfinal session.

Texas A&M-Kingsville Notes

• The Javelinas are now 19-24 all-time in LSC Tournament action. The team has the third highest championship game appearances in the conference with seven, but has only won two of those.

• Clyde Johnson has now reached double-digit scores in 16 games with his 10 points against Commerce. The team is now 13-4 in games that he has scored double-figures.

• With his two assists this game, Wendell Mulkey becomes the second player in Kingsville's school history with at least 150 assists in two different seasons. His season total is now 150.

• Adan Montalvo's 14 points in just the first half nearly matched his season high of 15 points reached against Incarnate Word and Tarleton earlier this season. He finished this game with a season high 16 points. Every game that Montalvo has reached double-digits has resulted in a win for the Javelinas, now totaling seven.

• Texas A&M Kingsville is making its 27th LSC tournament appearance.

• Kingsville is ranked first in the LSC in blocks and it proved effective tonight as the team tallied six blocks to the Lion's two, including one by Flavio Milam in the last 15 seconds of the game to hold on to the slim one point lead.

• The Javelinas are now one game closer to reaching a 20-win season, something that they have not done since 94-95. Their overall record is now 19-9. The win marks the third time that head coach Pete Peterson has led the team to a 19 win season.  

Texas A&M-Commerce Notes

The Lions fell to 24-27 overall in the LSC Championship Tournament in their 30th appearance... The 10 losses for the Lions heading into the tournament were by an average of 5.7 points and Thursday's game was a two-point loss, 50-48... All three players averaging in double figures this season for TAMUC were held below their season average and only one reached double digits... The Lions are now 0-2 when scoring below 60 points in a game and fell to 6-7 when being outrebounded.  A&M-Kingsville won the rebounding battle 40-33 Thursday... The Lions end their season 17-11 overall.

Texas A&M-Kingsville Quotes

Pete Peterson

Texas A&M-Kingsville

"I just thought it was a tremendous defensive effort on our part...both teams for that matter. I knew it was going to be an exactly like it was a low-scoring affair. We made some plays down the stretch that allowed us to win the game."

On the last shot.
"It was tough to watch that shot. We reached and were out of position. I was just praying it wouldn't go in."

About Commerce
"Commerce really comes at you hard. They can really turn the tide with the way they get after you and contest every shot. We're not game.

About Kingsville's chances.

"No telling how far we can go. We know we are here because of our defense. It's not our offense that we are known for.

Wendell Mulkey

"We knew all along what type of game to expect. We got a bunch of new guys who have never been here and this experience is something that we are really enjoying."

Adan Montalvo

"I just hit some open shots in the first half. My teammates did a great job of finding me. Wendell did a good job of finding me. Coach always tells me to be ready to shoot the ball and shoot it with confidence."

Texas A&M-Commerce Quotes

Head Coach Sam Walker

General Comments...

 "We took them out of everything they were trying to do and they took us out of everything we were trying to do.  It came down to guys putting the ball on the floor and attacking the rim, finding a way to make a shot, finding a way to make something when nothing is there.  They were able to do it more times than we were."

Rashad Brown

On the difference between last year's tournament and this year's...

 "I did not want my senior season to end like this.  The difference in last year and this year is last year we were on top and this year, look at it."

DeUndrae Spraggins

On the TAMUK Defense...

 "Their defense was great, they did a lot of switching and they kept on me.  Trying to get open was a bit of a task.  There was a little bit of holding and a little bit of fouling in this game, but that's the playoff atmosphere.  They just did a good job of keeping aware of where I was at, at all times."