COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team fell at the hands of a hot-shooting Angelo State University team in the Field House on Thursday night, 88-74.

The Lions fall to 16-7 overall and 8-6 in the Lone Star Conference with the loss, which is their second straight. This is the first time this season A&M-Commerce has lost back-to-back games. ASU is now 14-7 and 6-7 in the league.
 
A&M-Commerce hosts A&M-Kingsville at 4 p.m. Saturday following Senior Day ceremonies between games of the doubleheader
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Five Lions scored in double digits, led by 14 points from Malik Albert, who also nabbed four steals.
- Montrell Little scored 13 points with six rebounds.
- De'Andre Carson and Trey Seymore each scored 12 points, while Marqueith Russell netted 10 points off the bench.
- A&M-Commerce scored 30 points off of 23 ASU turnovers.
- The Rams held a 40-33 rebounding advantage and had six of their eight players score in double figures. ASU also shot 55.9 percent (33-of-59) from the field in the game.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The early going was even as the teams matched each other for a few possessions. ASU's Brandon Williams went on a personal six-point run to spark a 11-2 surge for the guests over a six-minute span. The Lions were held without a basket for over four minutes and an Albert lay-in at the 11:47 mark made it a 16-9 game to snap the skid.
 
The Lions cut the lead to three points with 8:44 left in the first half after a Seymore three-point play and an Albert triple to make it a 22-19 score. The Lions trailed by four with 6:22 to play in the period, but were then held off the board for nearly three minutes while the Rams scored seven straight, taking their first double-digit lead at 32-21 with 4:29 left in the period.

A&M-Commerce was able to cut the lead to six points in the final three minutes of the half, but the Rams took a 39-28 lead into the halftime dressing room.
 
Angelo State kept the Lions at arm's length in the early portions of the second half, but the home side chipped away. A 7-0 run in the middle of the period was capped by a Simon Shafack tip-in that narrowed the margin to four points at 57-53 with 11:12 to play.
 
The Rams slammed the narrow opportunity to edge into the game closed with an 8-2 run, going back up by double figures at 65-55 with 8:52 to go.
 
A&M-Commerce showed its resiliency, as a pair of Little free throws and another three-point play by Seymore with just under five minutes remaining brought the margin back down to five at 72-67.
 
Unfortunately for the Lions, that would be the last field goal they would connect on for the night, as the final eight points for the blue and gold were on free throws. After ASU went on a quick 5-0 run, the Lions could not get closer than nine points on the way to the 14-point loss.