MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team erased an early double digit deficit and held off a late charge to earn a 78-76 non-conference win over Southern Arkansas University on New Year's Eve.
 
The Lions move to 10-2 on the season and earn a season sweep over SAU. This is the Lions' 16th consecutive victory over the Muleriders.
 
A&M-Commerce jumps into Lone Star Conference play after the calendar changes to 2017, and is next in action on Thursday, January 5, at Texas A&M-Kingsville.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Trey Seymore netted a career-high 26 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists.
- Jovan Austin scored 11 points and four rebounds with six assists to only one turnover.
- Dorian Armstrong notched a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds and Montrell Little also scored 11 points.
- The Muleriders held a 51-42 rebounding edge thanks to 17 boards by Denarious Lockhart.
- A&M-Commerce shot 37.5% from the floor, with an identical success percentage from three-point range. The Lions forced 18 Mulerider turnovers.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions were unable to find their shooting rhythm early in the contest, as the hosts jumped out to an early lead. SAU made three-pointers on three consecutive trips down the floor and led 16-10 with 14:12 left in the opening half.
 
A&M-Commerce cut the lead to four on a Seymore basket on the next trip down the floor, but SAU pushed and a triple by Snyder Cenecharles at the 10:28 mark gave the hosts an 11-point lead at 28-17.
 
The Lions responded swiftly with a 10-0 run. A Seymore three-pointer with 7:12 left in the half cut the lead to 28-27. Another Seymore triple at the 5:32 mark gave A&M-Commerce its first lead at 32-30. The Lions would lead by as many as five in the first half, but an SAU buzzer-beater from long range cut the guests' halftime lead to 41-40.
 
The game was tied at 45-all with 17:09 to go and A&M-Commerce went on a 17-4 surge over the next six minutes. A three-point play by Austin was key in the run, and a Seymore trey at the 11:21 mark pushed the Lion lead to 62-49.
 
A&M-Commerce led by double digits as late as the 4:09 mark before the Muleriders kicked back. A 9-0 run by the hosts cut the lead to a solitary point at 74-73 with 1:47 to play.
 
Little earned a putback basket with 53.7 seconds to go and stem the tide, putting the Lions back up by three at 76-73. After some confusion on a scorebook issue, SAU made two free throws on an administrative technical after fouling the Lions, tying the game. A&M-Commerce's Isaac Asrat made one free throw to take a narrow 77-76 lead
 
Daquane Willford came away with a steal with 3.8 seconds remaining, and connected on a free throw to give the Lions a two-point edge. Keeton Tennison attempted a three-pointer for SAU's attempt to win, but it went lacking and the Lions escaped Magnolia with a victory.
 
HEAD COACH SAM WALKER POSTGAME QUOTES
On the intensity of the game and how the team can learn from the win:
"We've had a good rivalry here for a number of years. We have fed off of that. When you go on a road swing, you don't have to win them all. But you need to win the ones you can. We can go back and look at these games and use what we've learned in future games. We can say, 'Let's go back to what we did against Southern Arkansas. We are in the same boat now.' It's a great growing experience. We are glad to come away with this one and end 2016 on a good note."
 
On the streak of wins against SAU:
"We have won a lot of games at the buzzer at this place, and we have been fortunate at our place too. To have won 16 in a row against this team with how good the teams we have played against have been in that span, it's a lot more luck than it is skill, that much I can tell you."
 
On the big games coming up next week:
"There is a reason why there are clichés. We aren't looking at anything else except Kingsville. Once we are done with that game, we will look ahead to the next one. If you start to look ahead, you often times lose the one right in front of you. We will take tomorrow off and then get back to work on Monday."