SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas - Chicago State men's basketball concluded the 2010 South Padre Island Invitational Saturday afternoon with a 67-65 overtime defeat to Liberty at the SPI Convention Center after rallying from a 34-21 halftime deficit. The Flames evened their record to 4-4, while the Cougars fell to 2-5 on the year.
The Green and White outscored Liberty by a 39-26 margin in the second half to send the game into an extra period after senior Antonio Lofton (Chicago, IL/Parkland College) (Chicago, Ill.) scored on a layup with four seconds left in regulation.
Liberty's John Brown later broke a 65-65 tie with four seconds remaining in overtime by splitting a pair of free throws and connected on another free throw with one second left for the final margin.
Senior Carl Montgomery (Chicago, IL/Shepard) (Chicago, Ill.) led CSU with a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds in the contest. Lofton finished with 15 points en route to earning all-tournament team accolades and sophomore Victor Scott (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park) (Chicago, Ill.) produced nine points.
Brown paced the Flames with a double-double of 16 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, while Antwan Burras and David Minaya each added 14 points. Evan Gordon rounded out the Liberty double-digit scoring quartet with 13 points.
The Cougars conclude their road swing this Wednesday night as it travels to Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorite Wichita State with the tip-off set for 7 p.m.
~CSU~
