ODESSA – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team closed the regular season on Saturday with a 86-69 loss to the UT Permian Basin Falcons.
 
The Lions end the regular season with a record of 18-9 overall and 10-8 in the Lone Star Conference. They will play in the quarterfinals of the LSC Championship on Friday with the time, seeding, and opponent yet to be determined.
 
UTPB wins the LSC regular season championship at 23-5 overall and 14-4 in the league.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Four Lions scored in double digits, led by 12 points from Montrell Little, who also grabbed five rebounds.
- Trey Seymore scored 11 points and had a team-best three assists.
- Dorian Armstrong recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Trey Washington scored 10 points off of the bench.
- UTPB shot 52.6 percent from the floor (30-of-57), including 11 three-pointers. A&M-Commerce was limited to a 37.0 shooting percentage (20-of-54) with only five triples.
- UTPB also held a 40-32 rebounding advantage.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions outshot the Falcons in the early going, taking a quick lead in the opening minute of play on a Little three-point play. UTPB scored five straight to swing the lead in its favor and the game went back and forth from there.
 
Washington hit a three-pointer at the 12:32 mark, cutting the hosts' lead to three points at 17-14. After he nailed another triple at the 11:06 mark to put the margin at three, the Falcons scored eight straight and led 28-17 with 7:36 left in the first half.
 
The Lions scored the next seven points in a row and a Little layup made it a four-point game again with 5:45 left in the opening frame. The margin was at four points again after a pair of Seymore free throws at the 3:29 mark, but UTPB quickly extended the lead to 11. A&M-Commerce scored two free throws late and went to the locker room trailing 41-32.
 
The Lions four points early in the second half to get back within six points, a margin that held with 16:25 to go on a pair of Malik Albert free throws to make it 48-42.
 
From there, UTPB turned on the gas, going on a 10-0 run and holding the Lions scoreless for three minutes. The hosts were suddenly up by 16 with the surge at 58-42 after a Zeldric King three-point play with 13:30 on the clock.
 
UTPB took that momentum swing and ran with it, as the Lions would get no closer than 14 points the rest of the way. The Falcons led by as many as 26 late, but the Lions showed some fight and got the final margin back down to 17 points.