A&M-Commerce (12-2, 1-1 LSC) at Angelo State (10-3, 0-1 LSC)
Sunday, January 12, 2014 • 5:05 p.m. 
Junell Center (5,600) • San Angelo, Texas 
Radio: KETR 88.9 FM • Live Stats • Twitter: @Lion_MBB • TV: Comcast Sports Net Houston
Game Notes (PDF)

STORY LINES
• The Lions will be looking to build upon their first Lone Star win of the season on Sunday, in a late matinee meeting at Angelo State. The Rams are coming off a loss to No. 9 Tarleton State in their league opener on Wednesday, 80-54, in Stephenville.  

• The game will be televised live by Comcast Sports Net Houston, the first televised game for the Lions of the season. Brett Dolan will have the play-by-play call, while former NBA point guard Damon Jones will provide color analysis. The game will be streamed live on CSNHouston.com without blackouts, and available in the following selected markets: Houston, Tyler/Longview, San Angelo, Waco/Temple/Bryan, Little Rock (Ark.), New Orleans (La.), Shreveport (La.) and Monroe/El Dorado (La.). Contact your cable provider to confirm availability.

THE LAST TIME OUT
• The A&M-Commerce Lions held off a hot-shooting A&M-Kingsville group in the game's final minute for a 68-66 win, it's first in in Lone Star Conference play this year, on Wednesday at The Field House. The Lions hit 16 of its 20 foul shots in the second half, including nine of 10 in the final 2:09 to withstand an A&M-Kingsville playing its first game since December 18. Still, you would never know the Javelinas had been off for three weeks as they tied a season-high with 10 three-point buckets, including three in the game's final two minutes to erase what was an eight-point Lion lead late in the game.

UP NEXT
• A&M-Commerce continues its three-game road swing with a trip to Lawton, Okla., on Jan. 15 for a meeting with Cameron before embarking on a journey to Portales, N.M., for a meeting with Eastern New Mexico. The Lions will not see The Field House floor again until they close out January vs West Texas A&M on Jan. 25.  

TEAM QUICK HITS
• The Lions got off to an 8-0 start to the season, the second best start to a season for A&M-Commerce in program history. Currently the squad stands at 12-2 on the year, which is tied the best start through 14 games for the team under head coach Sam Walker, joining the 2004-05 squad that also opened the year 12-2.

•Tyrie Wooten went 10-for-10 from the foul line in Wednesday's win over A&M-Kingsville. That mark is tied for the third-best single-game free throw effort in the Lone Star this season, but it's not even tops on his own team. LaDon Carnegie had an 11-for-11 effort in the second game of the season vs Oklahoma Panhandle State.

• Halftime deficits have not been much of an issue for A&M-Commerce this season. The Lions have found themselves down at the break of seven of its 13 games, coming back to win in five of those games. It's largest deficit over come of the season was a 15-point margin in its 71-68 win over Henderson State.

Series vs. ANGELO STATE: TAMUC leads, 43-40
Last 5 Meetings
2012-13 at Angelo State W 96-90
2012-13 ANGELO STATE W 75-58
2011-12 ANGELO STATE W 83-78
2011-12 at Angelo State L 87-67
2010-11 at Angelo State W 102-98 (OT)                                

Last Meeting
Preston Whitley hit five threes and pumped in 24 points, and the teams combined for 22 three-point buckets as the Lions held off the Rams for a 96-90 win at the Junell Center on Feb. 9, 2013. Stefon Carson had 18 points, and Devondrick Walker had 17 ponits and three three-point buckets in the victory. The Lions hit better than 52 percent of their shots from the field and were 11-for-19 from behind the arc, and 25-for-32 at the foul line. A&M-Commerce was 9-for-13 on three-point buckets in the first half alone, taking a 49-42 lead into the break after a 22-2 run that followed a six-point Rams' lead.
 
Series Notes
Recent history favors the Lions in this series, holding a 43-40 all-time record, winning five of the last six meetings, and 12 of the last 17 dating back to 2001-02. They have also had recent success in San Angelo, winning three of their last four trips to the Junell Center. 

Wall Of Macauley: In addition to his 9.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, A&M-Commerce big man Christian Macauley has been stellar as the Lions' last line of defense. The junior from Washington D.C. leads the Lone Star Conference with 2.9 blocks per game after adding three more to his season total against Midwestern State. He has at least one block in every game this season for the Lions, with multiple blocks in 10 of A&M-Commerce's 14 games to date. Lee Johnson holds the single-season school record with 84 blocks (2.8 bpg), set in 1978-79.

WALKER ADDS TO WIN TOTAL: Head coach Sam Walker became the all-time winningest coach in A&M-Commerce history last season with his 202nd victory, pushing him past former Lion head coach Jim Grudger, and in two less seasons. He now continues to distance himself from the other 19 coaches in Lion history with 218 victories to his credit. His win total is second among current coaches in the Lone Star Conference, trailing only Tarleton State's Lonn Reisman's 543 victories.

CALLING LONG DISTANCE: The Lions have not been afraid to step out and let it fly from beyond the arc this season with its 292 three-point tries being 20 more than any other team in the LSC. Still, they have managed to be efficient with them too, hitting at a cool 36.3 percent from three-point range, a mark that ranks fourth in the league. A&M-Commerce has made at least 10 threes in six games this year with a season-high 12 in a six-point win over Southern Arkansas on November 13. In all, four Lions with at least 30 three-point tries are hitting better than 36 percent of those shots, led by LaDon Carnegie's league-leading 48.4 percent.

CARNEGIE'S RETURN: Leading scorer LaDon Carnegie made his return to the court Midwestern State after a short two-game layoff due to injury, and he picked up right where he left off. The junior guard pumped in a team-high 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting in 28 minutes. That effort upped his season average to 15.4 points per game, a mark that ranks seventh in the Lone Star Conference. 

CARSON'S RULE: Freshman point guard De'Andre Carson has been solid off the pine for the Lions this season, so much so that he currently leads the NCAA in assist-turnover ratio. He has gotten into 12 games this year and has dished out 38 assists for a 6.3 assist-turnover ratio. That is more than twice the ratio of the second best in the Lone Star, and 1.44 higher than the nation's second best -- Brandon Curry of Claffin. 

BROKEN GLASS: The rebounding edge has been one that has gone the Lions' way for the majority of the season, having out-rebounded 10 of its first 12 opponents, and winning all 10 of those games in which it led on the glass. But that was not the case in their 2014 debut on Saturday vs Midwestern State, when the Mustangs owned the boards, finishing with a 52-27 advantage, including 16-5 on the offensive glass. That 25-rebound margin is the largest rebounding margin for a Lion opponent since last season when Midwesetern State had a 26-rebound margin in a 85-67 win.

ACCEPTING CHARITY: The Lions may be putting up more long-distance jumpers than any other team in the Lone Star Conference, but they are still doing their fare share of getting to the foul line. In fact, A&M-Commerce has shot more free throws than its opponent in all but one game, and that game saw both the Lions and Southern Arkansas shoot 34 apiece. In all, the Lions are averaging more than 27 foul shots per game, and rank third in the league with a 72.7 free-throw percentage as a team. 

BETTER AS THEY GO: A&M-Commerce has managed to overcome five of six halftime deficits this season for victories, and when you look at the numbers, it is no surprise. Despite lower efficiency from the field and the foul line, the Lions have made 29 more field goals and 110 more foul shots in the second half of games than in the opening period this season. 

BETTER AS THEY GO: A&M-Commerce has managed to overcome five of six halftime deficits this season for victories, and when you look at the numbers, it is no surprise. Despite lower efficiency from the field and the foul line, the Lions have made 31 more field goals and 99 more foul shots in the second half of games than in the opening period this season.

                First Half       Second Half           
PTS            36.9                    48.2
FGs        186/425             215/497   
FG%          43.8                    43.3
3pt%         39.1                     32.9
FTs          85/117              195/267
FT%          72.6                     73.0