GUNNISON, Colo.– The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team defeated Western State Colorado 84-76 on Saturday. The Lions never trailed in the second half, leading by as many as 17.
 
The win brings the Lions to 4-1 on the season while the Mountaineers fall to 1-3 on the year.
 
The Lions will return to action on Friday when they travel to Denver, Colo. to face Regis. The game will be played at the Regis Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. MST. The Lions will then face Metro State on Saturday at 5 p.m. MST.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Reggie Reid (Harlem, Ga.) led the team with 23 points, shooting 9-of-14 from the field. He also had five rebounds and led the team with four assists.
- Willie Rooks (Houston – North Forest) had 16 points, making four threes in the contest. Trey Conrod (Kilgore) added 13 points, including nine from the free throw line.
- Rodney Brown (Beaumont – West Brook) had 12 points and led the team with seven rebounds.
- Austin Grandstaff (Rockwall) and Carson Tuttle (Mukilteo, Wash.) both had seven points.
- The Lions shot 48 percent from the field, including eight three pointers. The Lions got to the foul line 36 times in the game.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Mountaineers scored the first five points of the game before a three from Rooks started the scoring for the Lions. The teams traded buckets for the next 10 minutes as the score was tied at 19 midway through the half. The lead changed hands four times before back-to-back buckets from A&M-Commerce gave them the lead for good.
 
A basket from Reid was followed by a three-pointer from Reid and the Lions built a seven-point lead with four minutes remaining in the half. The Lions pushed their lead to nine before the Mountaineers cut the lead to three with two minutes left. The Lions went into halftime leading 39-34.
 
The Lions scored the first four points of the second half as they pushed their lead back to nine points. After a two-minute scoring drought from both teams, Grandstaff then made a jumper to give the Lions a double-digit lead. The Lions pushed their lead to 15 after two dunks from Brown.
 
The Mountaineers began to climb back into the game at the midway mark, cutting the Lions lead to just five points with seven minutes to play. The Lions responded with a 12-0 run to bring their lead to 17 points with four and a half minutes left. Reid made three jumpers in the rally.
 
A couple of threes from the Mountaineers cut the Lion lead to just six points with less than 30 seconds left but the Lions held onto the lead and left with the eight-point win.