COMMERCE – A second half surge allowed the Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team to pull away from Texas A&M International University in an 83-65 victory in the Field House on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Lions won their first game after a 24-day layoff and move to 10-2 overall on the season, while the TAMIU Dustdevils fall to 3-10 on the season. The win is A&M-Commerce's fifth straight to close out a 5-0 homestand.
 
A&M-Commerce is next in action on Thursday, January 3, 2019, with a road contest at MSU Texas. Tipoff in Wichita Falls that evening is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. following the women's contest.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions shot 54.4 percent (31-of-57) from the field with seven three-pointers. A&M-Commerce shot 57.6 percent (19-of-33) in the second half.
- The Dustdevils were limited to a 39.6 percent (21-of-53) shooting clip.
- Tyree Robinson (Fall River, Mass.) entered the game with the third-highest shooting percentage in the nation and improved upon that, scoring 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting with five rebounds. He scored his points in 16 minutes of action after finding himself in foul trouble in the first half.
- He was one of five Lions scoring in double figures. Reggie Reid (Harlem, Ga.) scored 12 points, dished out six assists, grabbed five rebounds, and snagged three steals.
- Carson Tuttle (Mukilteo, Wash.) scored 11 points off the bench thanks to three three-pointers.
- Trey Conrod (Kilgore) and Srdan Budimir (Kjardjorjevo, Serbia) each netted 10 points.
 
COACH JARET VON ROSENBERG AFTER THE GAME
Thoughts on the game: "That is a well-coached, tough, physical team. We couldn't have asked for better preparation going into Midwestern and Cameron. That is what every night is going to be like. We played some different lineups and everyone played well. Everyone contributed."

Thoughts on the play of Tyree Robinson: "He is a strong, physical player. He is a good athlete. There are guys that just put the ball in the hole. He is one of those guys. He has a good feel and unbelievable touch."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions rushed out to an early lead, as Robinson and Conrod each scored four points in an 8-4 run to start the game. A&M-Commerce held their guests without a field goal for over five minutes and quickly pushed the lead to 11 points at 15-4 with 14:41 left in the first half. The Lions went scoreless for just over four minutes, allowing the Dustdevils to cut into the lead from the charity stripe, and the advantage shrank to 15-12 with just under 11 minutes left in the half.
 
For the rest of the half, fouls kept the Lions from pulling away, as the margin did not grow to more than two possessions in the period. A&M-Commerce lead by three points at 30-27 on a Budimir jumper with 2:55 to play, but TAMIU then scored the next two buckets. The Dustdevils took their only lead of the game at 31-30 with 2:06 to play. Reid flipped the lead with a three-pointer on the next possession and the Lions took a 33-31 lead into the dressing room at halftime.
 
Budimir, Conrod, Reid, and Robinson all had seven points at halftime, with Reid passing out four assists and Conrod dishing out three.
 
A&M-Commerce jumped on the offensive coming out of the break, scoring the first eight points of the period to stretch the lead back out to double figures at 41-31 with 17:14 to go on a pair of Rodney Brown (Beaumont – West Brook) free throws.
 
The Dustdevils battled for a time, keeping the game within reach until Tuttle's accurate shooting pulled the Lions away. A&M-Commerce was up 63-53 with 7:18 to play when the freshman scored eight straight Lion points over the next two minutes around only one TAMIU basket. The surge gave the Lions a 71-55 lead with five minutes to play.
 
TAMIU was unable to get the margin to any fewer than 12 points in the final stage of the game. Robinson closed out the game with four points including a three-point play, and his assist setup a Conrod three-point play to emphatically close out the Lions' fifth straight win.