Stephenville, Texas – Head A&M-Commerce men's basketball coach Sam Walker takes his Lions to Stephenville for the Texan Tipoff Classic as the Lions open the 2014-15 season Friday against Lubbock Christian at 2 p.m. and Saturday against New Mexico Highlands at 2 p.m.
 
The Opening Tip
Fast-break Points About A&M-Commerce
- In two exhibitions this season the Lions went 1-1 with a loss to Texas A&M and win over Texas Tech ... Christian Macauley had a double-double in the A&M game, while Darrell Williams had a double-double in the Tech game ... The Lions only had six double-doubles in 28 games in 2013-14.
- The Lions are coming off a 19-9 season overall and a 7-7 mark in Lone Star Conference games.
- The No. 4 seeded Lions advanced to the LSC semifinals before falling to No. 5 ranked and No. 1 seed Tarleton State, 84-72.
- The Lions advanced out of the tournament quarterfinals with a 74-73 win over No. 5 seed Eastern New Mexico.
- A&M-Commerce ended the regular season on a four-game winning streak including topping then ranked No. 2 Tarleton State 79-76 at home in the Lion Fieldhouse.
- The 2014-15 Lions return only five players off of the 2013-14 team ... The squad has added nine newcomers but only has one true freshman.
- Swingman LaDon Carnegie returns as the team's leading scorer after averaging 15.2 points per game ... He shot 48.7 percent from the floor including 51.3 percent from long range ... He also pulled in 5.7 rebounds per game -- the second best mark on the squad in 2013-14.
- Post player Christian Macauley is this year's second leading returning scoring after averaging 9.1 points per game ... The big game led the team in rebounds per game at 7.2 last year.
- The Lions are coached by Sam Walker ... Walker is in his 15th season with A&M-Commerce and is the school's all-time winningest coach with an overall of 225-172 ... He has complied a 94-88 record in LSC games.
 
A&M-Commerce vs. This Weekend's Opponents Series History
- A&M-Commerce is 1-0 against Lubbock Christian ... The only meeting was in 1979-80 ... The Lions won 72-69 in OT.
- The  Lions and Cowboys have only met twice all-time ... The two teams have split the series ... New Mexico Highlands won the first meeting in 1939-40, 53-37 ... A&M-Commerce won the second meeting in 1992-93, 76-54.
 
Fans can follow all the action from the 2014-15 season on www.LionAthletics.com, through twitter @Lion_Athletics and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LionsAthletics.