PORTALES, N.M. – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team built up a large halftime lead and held on with a solid second half effort, defeating Eastern New Mexico by an 83-73 score on Thursday night.
 
The Lions move to 8-1 overall and 2-1 in the Lone Star Conference with the win, while ENMU drops to 4-6 overall and 0-3 in the league.
 
A&M-Commerce is next in action at Western New Mexico on Saturday, tipping off at 5 p.m. CST (4 p.m. local) in Silver City, N.M.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- De'Andre Carson led all scorers with 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including making both of his three-point attempts. He also had three rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
- Malik Albert scored 17 points with five rebounds, two blocks, and a steal.
- Trey Seymore netted 16 points with four rebounds and two steals.
- The Lions shot 47.6 percent from the field (30-of-63), with a 5-of-15 (33.3 percent) rate from three-point range.
- A&M-Commerce had 11 steals in the contest and scored 19 points off of Greyhound turnovers.
- The Lions were out-rebounded by a 46-36 margin, with ENMU grabbing 22 offensive rebounds and 24 defensive rebounds.
- ENMU turned the ball over 19 times, while the Lions only turned the ball over 10 times.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions conceded the first two buckets of the game and struggled to connect early, missing the first six shots of the night. With 12:39 left in the first half, the Lions took their first lead of the game after Albert blocked a shot and Seymore cruised to the basket for a layup and a 10-9 advantage.
 
From a 13-12 lead, the Lions scored the next eight points and held ENMU off the board for six minutes to push the advantage to 21-12. A&M-Commerce led by six points with 5:08 to go in the frame, then went on a 9-0 run. Albert contributed with a personal five-point surge, drilling a three-pointer, snagging a steal, then rushing down the floor for a fast break dunk to make it a 32-17 lead.
 
The Lions would lead by as many as 17 points on the way to a 40-24 lead. A&M-Commerce shot 46.9 percent (15-of-32) in the half and grabbed nine steals in the half while turning the ball over only three times.
 
After the Lions pushed its lead to a game-best 18 points on the opening score of the second half, ENMU responded with seven straight points. The hosts got the lead back into single digits in the first three and a half minutes of the half.
 
With the Greyhound lead at eight points, Carson nailed a triple with 11:29 to play to put the Lion advantage back into double figures at 57-46. The hosts cut the lead to eight once again before Marquieth Russell, Seymore, and Daquane Willford made consecutive baskets to put the Lions up by 14 at the under-eight media timeout.
 
The Lions were unable to connect from the field for 4:20 of play, but stayed ahead thanks to solid free throw shooting. Trey Washington drained a corner three-pointer at the 3:31 mark, staking the Lions out to a 75-62 advantage headed to the home stretch.
 
The Greyhounds narrowed the lead to eight points with just under three minutes to go, but Seymore made a power move to the basket where he scored and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but the Lions maintained possession and connected on a free throw, putting the lead back at double digits at 78-67.
 
The victory was sealed with just over a minute to play, as Jovan Austin stole the ball and assisted Carson on the fastbreak layup. That basket gave the Lions a 12-point lead with less than 60 seconds to play.