ODESSA – The 10th-ranked Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team fell to No. 11 UT Permian Basin, 64-63, on a buzzer-beating putback by the Falcons in the UTPB Gymnasium on Thursday night.
 
The Lions fall to 14-2 overall and 7-1 in the Lone Star Conference, while UTPB moves to 15-2 overall and 7-1 in LSC play.
 
Next up for A&M-Commerce is the NCAA Division II National Showcase game on Saturday at No. 7 West Texas A&M. Tipoff in Canyon is set for 4 p.m., with the game nationally broadcast on ESPN3, WatchESPN.com, and the ESPN family of apps.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Reggie Reid scored 19 points to lead the Lions including a 10-for-10 night at the free throw line.
- Willie Rooks and Trey Conrod each scored 10 points, as the Lions shot 33.3 percent from the field (19-of-57). The Lions shot 6-of-32 (18.8 percent) from three-point range.
- Dorian Armstrong was just short of a double-double with eight points and 14 rebounds.
- The Lions held UTPB over 26 points below their LSC-best scoring average for the Falcons' lowest point output of the season by 10 points. This also improved the Lions' league-best scoring defense.
- UTPB shot 39.2 percent (20-of-51) from the field, as the Lion defense forced 20 Falcon turnovers.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams went on huge runs in the first half, with the Falcons going up big early before the Lions roared back to take a lead. After UTPB took an early 7-2 lead, A&M-Commerce went on 10-point rally to go up 12-7 with 15 minutes to play on a Conrod triple.
 
From there, the Falcons scored 16 consecutive points while keeping the Lions off the board for nearly five minutes. James McPherson hit a trio of three-pointers in the surge which gave the home side a 23-12 lead at the 10:36 mark.
 
That lead would bulge to as many as 13 points before the Lions rallied thanks to strong defense and quality shooting at the free throw line. The bigs got the surge started with an Armstrong three-pointer and a Stefan Bozickovic layup.
 
The Falcons went nearly 10 minutes without a field goal as the Lions went on the 18-3 run. Conrod made four free throws to cap off the surge, giving the Lions the lead at 32-30.
 
However, the Falcons counterpunched again, nailing a pair of threes in the final seconds, including a Garrett Baggett buzzer-beater to give the hosts a 36-32 halftime lead.
 
The Lions shot only 32.3 percent (10-of-31) from the floor in the half, including a 3-of-18 rate (16.7 percent) from long range. UTPB shot 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from the floor, with a 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) three-point rate. The Lions forced 11 UTPB turnovers and held the hosts without a field goal for 9:45, with the hosts unable to make a two-point field goal in the last 11:15 of the half.
 
UTPB scored eight the second half's first 11 points to get out to a seven-point advantage at 42-35 just over two minutes into the half. The Lions responded with a 10-point run, once again holding the Falcons off the board for a long stretch, this time 5:47 of clock. Conrod's jumper in the paint with 13:24 to play made it a 45-42 Lion lead.
 
Neither team would lead by more than two possessions for the rest of the game. The largest lead of the remainder of the contest came when McPherson hit a three-pointer to make it 59-55 in UTPB's favor with 4:40 to play.
 
From there, the Lions outscored the Falcons 11-6, taking a 63-60 lead on a pair of Reid free throws with 1:31 to go.
 
The Lions missed their final two field goal attempts in the final minute and UTPB had to go the length of the floor with 10.8 seconds on the clock, trailing by one. McPherson left a three-pointer short, and Sammy Allen notched his only offensive rebound of the night and the putback was counted. After a lengthy replay review and more meeting on the floor, the officials scored the basket to give UTPB the one-point victory.