COMMERCE– The No. 8 Texas A&M University-Commerce football team clinched its third consecutive Lone Star Conference championship after defeating Tarleton State University 30-10 on Saturday. After falling behind early, the Lions ran away with the game in the second half.
 
The win pushes A&M-Commerce to 10-1 on the season and 8-1 in the conference. With a Midwestern State University loss, the Lions won the conference title outright. TSU falls to 5-6 and 5-4 in the Lone Star Conference.
 
The Lions now look toward the NCAA Division II Playoffs and will likely host a game in the first round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs. Their seeding and opponent will be announced Sunday as part of the NCAA selection show, which begins at 4 p.m..

The Lions will watch the selection show in The Club of the Sam Rayburn Student Center on campus. Their reactions and interviews with coaches, players and administrators will be streamed live on the University's Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/tamuc.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 
- The Lions' 10-win season is the first since 1990 and the sixth season with double digit wins in school history.
- Quarterback Luis Perez finished the game 22-of-35 for 274 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Gabriel Rodriguez had a rushing touchdown.
- Shawn Hooks returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown in the game. It is his third punt return for a touchdown on the season. The touchdown moves him into the lead for most punt return touchdowns across all four divisions of NCAA football.
- Ovie Urevbu had 110 yards rushing on 14 carries. Richard Whitaker added 54 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.
- Vincent Hobbs led the Lions with 81 yards receiving on three catches, including a highlight reel 54-yard touchdown catch and run near the end of the first half. D'Arthur Cowan had six receptions for 72 yards and Justice Luce added 54 yards on five receptions.
- Neema Behbahani and Yusef Sterling-Lowe each had an interception, giving the Lions 19 interceptions by 15 different players for the season. It was Sterling-Lowe's third interception of the season.
- The Lions forced three turnovers in the game, two of which led to touchdowns in the second half.
- After falling behind 10-0, the Lions scored the final 30 points of the game.
- With the win, the Lions claimed the outright conference championship, their third consecutive year winning the LSC title. It is the first time A&M-Commerce has won three straight championships since 1957-59.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED The Lions received the opening kickoff and it was returned by Buck Wilson 42 yards to the 47-yard line. They marched down the field into the red zone but were stopped on fourth and one at the four-yard line, turning the ball over on downs.
 
TSU took the ball and began their trek down the field. Joseph Sadler had two rushes of 15 yards each as the Texans pushed their way 96 yards and into the end zone on a rush by Sadler. They took the early 7-0 lead.
 
After a three-and-out by A&M-Commerce, the Texans again had the ball and were making their way down field. On third down at the A&M-Commerce seven-yard line, Zed Woerner's pass was intercepted by Behbahani in the end zone for a touchback.
 
On their first possession of the second quarter, the Lions again were held by the Texan defense, punting the ball away. After a 21-yard return, Woerner had a long pass down the sideline to put TSU in field goal range. The 44-yard kick gave TSU a 10-0 lead.
 
On their next possession, both teams had long drives that ended in missed field goal opportunities. TSU missed a 36-yard field goal with just under a minute left to give the Lions one final opportunity before the half.
 
With 46 seconds left on the clock, the Lions came out throwing. Perez hit Cowan twice for 26 yards on the first two plays. After two incomplete passes, Perez took the third-down snap and was rushed out of the pocket to the right. Looking for a receiver, he found Hobbs for what looked to be a five-yard gain. But Hobbs refused to go down. He broke four tackles and sprinted down the right sideline and into the end zone with 10 seconds remaining in the half. The Lions trailed 10-7 at intermission.
 
TSU received the second half kickoff. On the first play from scrimmage, Sadler rushed the ball up the middle and it was stripped at the 16-yard line by Brucks Saathoff. Cameron Rogers recovered the ball at the TSU 20-yard line.
 
Perez started the drive with a 15-yard pass to Luce. Two plays later, Rodriguez took the snap and rushed into the end zone. The Lions went up 14-10 and looked to keep their foot on the gas pedal.
 
On the kickoff, the Lions attempted an onside kick and were successful. Kristov Martinez pooched the ball straight ahead and fell on it right before the Texans could get there. However, the Lions were unable to move the ball and were forced to punt.
 
On their next possession, TSU started inside the five-yard line. After a 28-yard completion by Woerner, his next pass was intercepted down the left sideline by Sterling-Lowe at the 44-yard line.
 
On the third play of the drive, Perez hit Darby Smith for a 33-yard gain to get the ball into the red zone. After two completions to Urevbu, Whitaker took the handoff and waltzed into the end zone to push the Lion lead to 20-10.
 
On their first possession of the fourth quarter, the Lions again made their way down the field. Perez completed a 25-yard pass to Cowan and a 24-yard pass to Luce. But they were unable to push the ball any further. The field goal made it 23-10.
 
After trading punts, the Lion defense again forced a punt by TSU. Hooks received the ball and after finding a seam, took off down the middle of the field. Sidestepping the punter and the last line of defense, he got into the end zone for the third time this season.
 
After another punt by TSU, the Lions turned to their running backs to run out the clock. Urevbu had a rush of 44 yards and Whitaker then had back-to-back 13-yard rushes to run out the clock.