COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team won a nailbiter against No. 7 West Texas A&M, winning 67-66 on Thursday night. The Lions retook the lead with three minutes to play and hit key buckets down the stretch to pull off the win.
 
The victory brings the Lions to 19-7 on the season and 11-6 in the Lone Star Conference. The Buffs fall to 24-3 and 14-3 in conference play.
 
The Lions close out the season hosting No. 12 UT Permian Basin on Saturday. The Lions host UT Permian Basin at 4 p.m. for Fill the Field House presented by Academic Affairs. Admission to the game will be free of charge. The Lion seniors will be honored prior to the game and the 1955 National Championship team will be honored at halftime.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Willie Rooks finished the game with 13 points. He hit the go-ahead three to put the Lions on top for good.
- Daquane Willford also had 13 points, with 11 coming in the first half. He also added seven rebounds.
- Reggie Reid had 11 points and led the team with six assists. Joseph Williams-Powell added 10 points.
- The Lions shot 46 percent from the field.
- There were three ties and five lead changes in the game.
- The game was the Lions' 12th game this season that was within one possession in the final 90 seconds of play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions started on point right out of the gate. After two quick baskets for the Buffs, A&M-Commerce scored the next 12 points. Using ball movement to create opportunities, five different Lions scored in the opening minutes as A&M-Commerce took a 12-4 lead six minutes into the game. A dunk from Willford gave the Lions a double-digit lead with 12 minutes left in the half.
 
WT battled back, scoring five in a row to cut back into the Lion lead. Both teams went without buckets for two minutes before a WT layup brought the Lion lead down to three with six minutes to play. Both teams battled back and forth before WT tied the game at 24 with three minutes to play in the opening frame.
 
The teams continued to battle down the stretch. The teams matched each other's buckets. Reid hit a three with two minutes left before a WT three gave the Buffs back the lead with 39 seconds to play. Rooks hit a three with 20 seconds left to send the Lions into halftime with a 33-31 lead.
 
Willford led the team with 11 points at halftime, going 5-of-6 from the field. Reid added nine points and Rooks added seven points.
 
Horne hit a three and a layup early in the second half as the Lions built their lead back up. A three from Trey Conrod brought the Lion lead back up to 10 points with 17 minutes minutes to play. The lead hovered around 10 for the Lions for several minutes before WT started to chip away. Starting at the 10 minute mark, the Buffs went on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to very briefly retake the lead. Rooks hit a three on the next possession to give A&M-Commerce the lead at .
 
The Lions built their lead back up to five before WT tied the game up with  three minutes to play. Rooks hit another three and the Lions did not trail again. WT cut the Lion lead to one point twice. That one-point margin held into the final seconds. Armstrong missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity and the Buffs rebounded. The dangerous Chavlovich was guarded well and passed for an open shot at the buzzer, but the three-point attempted clanged off the rim and the Lions pulled off the win.