COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team will play the final game of its five-game road trip against Tarleton State on Tuesday.
 
Tarleton State
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (18-6, 10-5 LSC) vs. Tarleton State (15-9, 10-5 LSC)
WHERE: Wisdom Gym in Stephenville, Texas
WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: tarletonsports.com/showcase?Live=957
LIVE AUDIO: ketr.org
 
The Lions are coming off a split in their games last week. They lost to Angelo State before bouncing back with an overtime against A&M-Kingsville. The Lions have faced tough road trips the last two weeks and adding in tough competition, head coach Jaret von Rosenberg was proud of his team for finding a way to get a win on the road in the Lone Star Conference.
 
"Any time you go on the road, especially in this league, it is going to be tough to get a win," he said. "Angelo State played very well and shot the ball particularly well in our game. We weren't able to get enough stops and obviously weren't able to score enough to be in that game late. Then we went down to Kingsville and to end our conference schedule, we have six really tough opponents. You have to get wins where you can and we were able to come out on top. We bounced back from Thursday. That was probably the most lopsided game of the year as far as Angelo handling us well. It was good to come back from that and get a win."
 
The win against A&M-Kingsville came in overtime. It is the fourth overtime game the Lions have played in their last six games and the fifth overtime win game of the season. The Lions have won four of those five overtime games and have played in plenty of other close games during the regular season. von Rosenberg and the team are comfortable in those moments after having faced so many already this season.
 
"We have talked about it from day one and we say it to our guys a lot: we just want to put ourselves in position," he said. "We want to play well enough for 39 minutes to have a chance to win late. We feel very good in overtime. I feel like sometimes we haven't played well but we have found a way to get to overtime and we have played very well in the overtime period. Besides the Eastern New Mexico loss where they did some really good things in overtime, we have been very efficient in overtime.
 
"I'd like to win in regulation but at the end of the day we are giving ourselves a chance to win a lot of games. That is all we can ask for and we hope it bounces our way and we can make enough plays to be one point on top before it is all said and done."
 
The Lions now face Tarleton State in their final regular season road game. The teams met in January in Commerce and A&M-Commerce was able to get the 82-70 win on its home floor. von Rosenberg knows both teams have improved since the last contest and it will be a different floor the teams will be playing on this go around.
 
"College basketball season is so long, it is two different teams," he said. "They are playing very well right now. We have played well in spurts as well. It will be a battle. They will be very well prepared and we are trying to get our guys prepared right now. They are very good on their home floor and what coach Reismann has done speaks for itself with the program they have created. They keep winning year in and year out. Those guys expect to win, especially on their home floor. We have to find a way to change that tomorrow night."
 
von Rosenberg knows the more chances you have to shoot, the better your odds of scoring and he sees that as a key factor against the Texans on the road.
 
"I think if you are going to take anything away from what we need to do, we have to get as many shots as they get," he said. "That means we have to limit our turnovers and get a shot every possession. We have to take care of the glass. If we get as many shots as they do, I feel we will have a chance to win. That is easier said than done."
 
The Lions have three games remaining on their regular season schedule and they are against the other three teams that are in the top four rankings in the conference standings. von Rosenberg knows it will be a test for his team as they try to get as prepared as possible for the Lone Star Conference tournament.
 
"There is not an easy game the rest of the way, no matter who we play in the conference tournament or beyond," he said. "Every game is going to be tough. Win or lose, we have to refocus and get ready for the next opponent. They are all going to be prepared and they will all be trying to beat us. We are worried about the next 24 hours and getting ourselves prepared to take the floor against Tarleton and see how we play. We will try to play as a team and do the best we can to give ourselves a chance to win. Then we will worry about the next opponent."
 
The Lions will then have nine days of rest before they play their final two games of the regular season. von Rosenberg is not only looking forward to having those games at home, but for the rest his team will get after playing so many road games in a row.
 
"The nice thing is we will have some time off after this long road trip to get our legs back and try and refresh a little bit," he said. "It is going to be a battle tomorrow. I just hope we show up and compete at a high level."