LAREDO – The No. 22 Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team shot lights out early and cruised to a 71-48 victory over Texas A&M International University at the Kinesiology & Recreation Building on Tuesday night.
 
The Lions close out the fall semester with an 11-1 record, while Texas A&M International falls to 6-7.
 
A&M-Commerce is now off for the Division II mandatory holiday break. The Lions are next in action with a three-game homestand to start the 2018 calendar year. The first of that trio of games comes on Thursday, January 4, against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Every Lion who put on his uniform scored at least one point for the Lions, with three tallying double figures.
- Willie Rooks scored 15 points with five assists and four rebounds to lead the Lions.
- Reggie Reid and Srdan Budimir each netted 12 points in the game.
- Dorian Armstrong scored just three points but had a team-best five rebounds and passed out four assists to go with two blocked shots.
- The Lions shot 54.9 percent (28-of-51) from the field for the night while limiting TAMIU to a 25.0 percent (13-of-52) clip. The Dustdevils made only four two-point baskets all night.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Dustdevils opened the scoring with a three-pointer on the game's first possession and the game was tied 9-9 at the 14:25 mark.
 
The Lions proceeded to go on a 17-1 run. Rooks and Budimir nailed triples, and consecutive baskets by Aaron Horne, Daquane Willford, and Rooks gave the Lions their first double-digit lead at 21-10. A Reid layup and a Rooks three-pointer pushed the lead to 26-10 before the Dustdevils made their only two-point field goal of the half at the 7:19 mark.
 
TAMIU was unable to connect on a field goal in the final 7:19, missing its final seven shots and turning the ball over four times. In that span, the Lions scored 10 of the half's final 11 points taking a 36-13 lead into the break.
 
Rooks had 13 points in the half to lead the Lions, who shot 60.0 percent (15-of-25) from the floor. The Lions limited the Dustdevils to a 16.7 percent clip in the half, connecting on 4-of-24 shots.
 
Joseph Wiliams-Powell hit a layup on the second half's opening possession to push the lead to 25 points for the largest lead of the night for the Lions.
 
A 6-0 TAMIU surge brought the advantage under 20 points at 39-20, but the Lions were able to stave off any Dustdevil attacks despite a resurgent effort from the hosts. Trey Conrod's jumper at the 12:16 mark put the Lions up by a 51-28 count before the home team was able to cut the lead to 15 with an 8-0 run.
 
The lead shrank to as few as 13 points with just over eight minutes to play before A&M-Commerce re-established its dominance. A 6-0 run capped by a Conrod layup put the lead back at 20 points, as the Lions led 61-41 with 5:10 to play. Budimir's three-pointer at the 2:15 mark pushed the lead to 23 points at 68-45 and both teams traded free throws in the dying stages of the game.
 
Both teams scored 35 points in the second half, though the Lions shot 50.0 percent (13-of-26) to the Dustdevils' 32.1 percent (9-of-28). TAMIU used the three-pointer to better effect, making six in the second half, though the hosts only made three two-point field goals in the final 20 minutes of play.
 
A&M-Commerce held a commanding 42-8 advantage in points in the paint and had 28 points off of 19 A&M International turnovers.