Stephenville, Texas – In its final game of the season, A&M-Commerce was held to its lowest point total of the season as Tarleton State used a suffocating defense to hold the Lions to 31 percent from the floor and only 12 percent from behind the arc in the Texans 68-48 win Sunday night in Wisdom Gymnasium in a Lone Star Conference game.
 
The Lions struggled in the first half shooting a paltry 28 percent from the floor and 18 percent from long range in the first 20 minutes.  A&M-Commerce did not fair much better in the second stanza shooting 35 percentage overall and 0-of-6 from three-point range to finished tied for its lowest shooting percentage of the season.
 
With the Lions trailing by six points, 19-13, Anthony Adams and Michael Hardge collided going for a loose ball. Adams was whistled for the foul, but Hardge grabbed Adam's arm and took him to the ground. The two players got up and a skirmish ensued with players from both teams rushing over to back up and defend their teammates.  After the dust settled, the officials ruled the personal foul to Adams stood and Adams was assessed a technical foul for pushing.  Also picking up technical fouls in the scrum was A&M-Commerce's JR Owens and Tarleton State's EJ Reed.  Somehow Hardge escaped without a technical foul causing the Texans to get two shots and the ball. Mo Lee made the technical free throws and Davene Carter scored on the Texans possession to make it a four-point swing lifting the Tarleton State lead out to double-digits, 23-13, with 7:11 left to play.
 
The Lions trimmed the lead down to six points, 23-17, two minutes later, but the Texans closed the half on a 9-2 run to take a 32-19 lead into the intermission.
 
In the second half, it was all Tarleton State as the Texan extended the gap to 18 points, 41-23, five and a half minutes back into action. The Texans closed out the game pushing the lead all the way out to 25 points, 65-40, en route to the 68-48 win.
 
Darrell Williams finished with his 19th double-double of the season.  The Lone Star Conference Player of the Year candidate went 6-of-10 from the floor and 7-of-11 from the free throw line for 19 points to go along with his 11 rebounds.  Anthony Adams recorded fourth double-digit game with 10 points.
 
The Lions were taken out of their game against the Texans. Tarleton State forced A&M-Commerce into 15 turnovers resulting in 22 points off of turnovers.  The Lions could not take advantage of the Texans 11 turnovers scoring only eight points.
 
Tarleton State ended 40 percent overall, 43 percent from three and 68 percent from the free throw line. 
 
Lee tallied a game-high 26 points notching his second 20-point game against the Lions this season.  Lee scored 24 points in the first meeting between the two schools.  Malcolm Hamilton chipped in 13 points in the TSU win.
 
The Lions will enter the Lone Star Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed and will tipoff Thursday, March 5 at 8:30 p.m. against No. 5 seed West Texas A&M.  The Lions swept the season series against the Buffs with a 76-75 victory on the road in Canyon and with a thrilling 73-69 come-from-behind win in Commerce.  With a win in the quarterfinals, the Lions will play the winner of the No. 1 seed vs. No. 8 seed match up, which would be Tarleton State vs. Eastern New Mexico.
 
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