Commerce, Texas – No. 4 seeded A&M-Commerce meet No. 5 seeded West Texas A&M, a team the Lions have won five straight against including twice this season, in the opening round of the Lone Star Conference Tournament Thursday in the Allen Event Center at 8:30 p.m.
 
The Lions swept the season series with a pair of wins by a total of five points.  A&M-Commerce held on for a 76-75 win on the road at WT, then had to rally for a 73-69 win at home in the Field House.  All told, the Lions have reeled off four straight wins against the Buffs.
 
Fast-break Points About A&M-Commerce
- The Lions have won six of their last eight games but enter the tournament after a 68-48 loss at Tarleton State.
- A&M-Commerce saw Darrell Williams earn Newcomer & Player of the Year from the Lone Star Conference ... He was also a first team selection ... Christian Macauley claimed his second all-defensive team and Defensive Player of the Year honors ... Macauley and LaDon Carnegie earned second team all-conference.
- At 21-7 overall the Lions have won 20 games for the first time since 2004-05 ... It's the second time under head coach Sam Walker and the 15th time in program history.
- The Lions are ranked seventh in the South Central region ... A&M-Commerce has played the 12th toughest schedule
- The Lions were ranked in the NABC Top 25 poll for the 26th time in program history ... Last ranking since No. 25 on Dec. 3, 2013.
-  Darrell Williams leads the LSC with 19 double-doubles, in scoring 18.2 points per game, rebounds 11.9 rebounds per game -- only player averaging a double-double ... Anthony Adams is fourth in the LSC in assists at 3.9.
- Williams has grabbed 15 plus rebounds in eight games this season and 20 plus rebounds twice during the year ... He is one of only two NCAA DII players with two 20-rebound games.
- The Lions are sixth in the NCAA in defensive rebounds, fifth in free throw attempts and in free throws made, 11th in total rebounds and 15th in field goal percentage defense.
-  Williams is ranked third in the NCAA in double-doubles with 19... Williams is also fifth in the NCAA in offensive rebounds per game and in total rebounds and sixth in rebounds per game.
- A&M-Commerce had a LSC Player of the Week in each of the first four weeks of the season ... Darrell Williams has won one offensive POTW and two straight defensive POTW awards ... LaDon Carnegie was named offensive of POTW once ... Williams followed with his second offensive player of the week on January 12.
- 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 at 247-179 overall 103-93 in LSC games.
 
About the Lions in the LSC Tournament
- The LSC Tournament moved from Bartlesville, Okla. to the Allen Event Center in 2012.
- The $53 million Allen Event Center opened its doors in November of 2009 and serves as the home of the Central Hockey League's Allen Americans and the Indoor Football League's Allen Wranglers, as well as a variety of other concerts and events.
- The winner of the three-day event receives the LSC's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament.
- A&M-Commerce has appeared in the tournament a conference-best 36 times, posting a 25-32 record in 57 games.
- The Lions are 2-3 in LSC Tournament games in the Allen Event Center.
- The Lions have won the championship three times, the last of which came in 2005 at the Field House, while winning back-to-back championships in 1977 and 1978.
- A&M-Commerce won its opening round game in 2014, 74-73, over Eastern New Mexico before falling, 84-72, to then ranked No. 5 Tarleton State and the tournament's number one seed.
 
 
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