Commerce, Texas – The No. 6 seed A&M-Commerce men's basketball team starts its Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship defense with No. 3 seed Tarleton State Thursday after noon at 2:30 p.m. in the Allen Event Center.
 
Fast-break Points About A&M-Commerce
- A&M-Commerce enters the tournament at 17-10 overall and 6-8 in the LSC after an 88-74  loss to Tarleton State in the team's regular season finale.
- The Lions have racked up 60 wins in the last three seasons to average of 20 wins per year.
- A&M-Commerce was 10-4 at home this season and is a whopping 32-7 in the last three seasons in The Field House.
- The Lions had a  nine-game winning streak that was the longest since a nine-game streak in 2004-05.
- Bryant Crowder has 72 blocks this season and is three blocks shy of moving into second place on the single-season blocks list passing Christian MaCauley's 74 blocks in 2013-14.  Crowder needs 13 blocks to surpass the single-season record of 84 blocks set by Lee Johnson in 1978-79.
- A&M-Commerce has sevens wins over top 25 teams in the last three years after knocking off No. 4 Angelo State, No. 22 Tarleton State and No. 11 Midwestern State all on the road this season.
- The Lions defeated Southwestern College 111-60 marking the program's 10th 50-point margin of victory. It was the 11th highest margin of victory in the NCAA DII on the season. The last time A&M-Commerce won by 50 or more points was in 2005-06 when the Lions defeated Paul Quinn by 51 points, 104-53. The largest margin of victory for the Lions came in 1986-87 when then East Texas topped Southwestern Assemblies of God by 70 points, 128-58.
- Anthony Adams was named the LSC Offensive Player of the Week then followed up with back-to-back LSC Defensive Player of the Weeks. Byrant Crowder earned Offensive Player of the Week.
- The Lions had a record breaking 132-83 win over Huston-Tilloston setting the school record for points in a game.
- Bryant Crowder leads the Lions with four double-doubles. All told the Lions have had four players record 11 double-doubles on the season.
- A&M-Commerce is coached by Sam Walker in his 16th season at the helm of the Lions program. Walker is the program's all-time leader in wins with 267.
 
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 28-32 record in 59 games.
- The Lions are 5-3 in LSC Tournament games in the Allen Event Center.
- The Lions have won the championship four times, the last of which came in 2015.  The last time the Lions won the LSC Championship was in  the Field House in 2005. A&M-Commerce is trying to repeat as tournament champs since winning back-to-back championships in 1977 and 1978.
- A&M-Commerce swept through to the 2015 LSC Tournament toping West Texas A&M, 79-64, in their first round game before upsetting No. 1 seed and then No. 7 ranked Tarleton State 53-53.  The Lions took home the tournament title with a 68-61 win over No. 2 seed and then No. 17 ranked Angelo State.
- A&M-Commerce has had 22 all-tournament selections including Anthony Adams from the 2015 tournament. Three Lions have been named the tournament's MVP after Darrell Williams earned the honors in 2015.
- Under head coach Sam Walker the Lions have appeared in 13 LSC Tournaments.
 
A&M-Commerce vs. Tarleton State:  The Series
- The Lions and Texans have met 65 times prior to Thursday's meeting with TSU holding a slight advantage in the series 34-31 ... The Lions hold a 20-18 advantage in LSC games.
- Tarleton State has won 12 of the last 15 meetings, including an 88-74 win in the final game of the 2015-16 season.
- A&M-Commerce had taken the two games prior -- a 53-51 win in the LSC Tournament in 2015 and the first game in the 2015-16 season at then ranked No. 22 on January 30, 67-65.
- The Lions win road win over the Texans was the first win in Stephenville for A&M-Commerce since the 2004-05 season.
 
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