Stephenville, Texas – No. 6 seed and No. 19 ranked Angelo State used a 10-0 run midway through the second half to upset the No. 3 seed Lions, 85-79, to end A&M-Commerce's season at 24-8 overall.
 
The Lions held a 33-32 lead at the half on a LaDon Carnegie layup, after trailing by as many as nine points, 24-15, following 10-2 run for the Rams.  But Angelo State came out of the break with a 5-0 run following a triple from Marsell Holden and a transition layup from Demario Mayfield after an A&M-Commerce turnover to take a 37-33 lead.  The spurt coupled with a 10-0 run from the 13:27 mark to 11:01 mark that gave the Rams a 61-49 lead proved to be too much for the Lions to overcame.  The Lions narrowed the lead down to five points, 81-76, but it was a little too late with only 20 seconds remaining as the Rams closed out the game going 7-of-10 from the free throw line.
 
The Lions, who during the regular season had four of their seven losses come when getting outrebounded, saw the Rams control the glass, 43-36, including 18 offensive rebounds leading to 23 second chance points for ASU.  The Lions pulled down only 11 offensive rebounds leading to 13 points. 
 
The two teams were even across the board shooting with the Rams at 46 percent and the Lions a 47 percent.  ASU went 10-of-27 from behind the arc for 37 percent, while the Lions made eight of their 22 attempts from behind the arc for 36 percent.  From the line, the Lions went 13-of-19 for 68 percent, while the Rams made 15 of their 27 shots from the charity stripe for 56 percent.
 
Angelo State laced four players in double figures led by Mayfield's 24 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor and 9-of-15 from the free throw line.  Holden notched 22 points and hit the biggest baskets for the Rams.  He was 7-of-13 from the floor and 6-of-12 from behind the three-point arc.  Nineteen of his 22 points and five of his six threes came in the second stanza.  Raijon Kelly chipped in 14 points, 10 of which came in the first frame, while Chris Jones ended with 12 points.
 
For the Lions double-double machine, Darrell Williams poured in 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting with 18 rebounds.  He earned his A&M-Commerce recorded 23rd double-double of the season and will finish the year in the top five of the NCAA in double-doubles, rebounds, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds and rebounds per game.  Williams short Lion career comes to an end second for rebounds in a single-season with 397 rebounds during the 2014-15 season.  LaDon Carnegie tallied 13 points before fouling out ending his Lions career.  Anthony Adams and Christian Macauley finished 11 points each.  Adams dished out a game-high six assists.  Macauley caps his career as the Lions all-times blocks leader at 128 swats after blocking two shots Saturday afternoon.  Eddie Leal was the fourth Lion playing in his final game Saturday. Leal tallied six points on 2-for-4 shooting with a pair of free throws.
 
The Lions 24-8 record is the best final mark since the 2004-05 season when the Lions went 28-5 after falling in the South Central Regional Championship game.
 
With the loss, A&M-Commerce falls to 5-5 in 10 NCAA Tournament games. The 20014-15 season was the fifth NCAA Tournament appearance for the Lions and first since the 2004-05.
 
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. 

NCAA South Central Regional Highlights


NCAA South Central Regional Post Game Press Conference