COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team defeated No. 12 UT Permian Basin 85-56 on Saturday. The Lions jumped into a big lead right out of the gate and took complete control of the game in the second half.
 
The win brings the Lions to 20-7 on the season and 12-6 in the Lone Star Conference. The Falcons fall to 22-5 and 14-4 in conference play. The Lions finish in a tie for third place in the conference standings but will be the fourth seed in the Lone Star Conference Championship after the tiebreaking system fell to a coin toss.
 
The Lions will return to action on Friday in the quarterfinal round of the LSC Championship. The Lions are the fourth seed and will face Angelo State at 6 p.m. The tournament will be held at Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco. Round two of the tournament will be played on Saturday with the championship game to be played on Sunday.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Willie Rooks led the Lions with 24 points, drilling five threes. He also had four assists and four rebounds.
- Reggie Reid had 21 points and five assists. He scored 20 points in the second half.
- Trey Conrod scored all 10 of his points in the first half and added two blocks and two steals.
- Aaron Horne had nine points while Daquane Willford added six points and five assists.
- A&M-Commerce shot 53 percent from the field and assisted on more than half of their field goals.
- The Lions scored 29 points off of 18 UTPB turnovers.
- A&M-Commerce led by as many as 32 points and never trailed in the game.
- The game was played in front of a crowd of 1,868 spectators.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions were on fire to start the game, scoring the first 11 points of the game. Four different Lions were on the board early, with the run capped by a three from Conrod. The Falcons began to score, netting the next two baskets.
 
The Lions pulled their lead back to double digits with 12 and a half minutes left in the half. Rooks hit a three and a layup from Conrod gave the Lions a 12-point lead. The Falcons scored the next five points and cut the Lion lead to just eight points midway through the half.
 
Armstrong hit a three as the Lions continued to shoot well from the field. A layup and free throws from Rooks added to the Lion lead and a three from Rooks with four minutes to play gave the Lions their largest lead of the half, a 19-point advantage.
 
The Falcons finished the half on a 7-0 run, holding the Lions scoreless for the final three minutes. The Lions took a 38-27 lead into halftime.
 
Rooks led the team with 12 points at halftime. Conrod added 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting. The Lions shot 50 percent in the first half and held the Falcons to just 32 percent shooting.
 
The Falcons cut the Lion lead to nine points early in the second half before two triples from the Lions brought their lead back up to double figures, where it remained the rest of the contest. Rooks hit all three of his triples in the second half while Reid also was on fire, scoring 20 points in the second half.
 
With 7:43 left in the half, the Lions started a 14-0 run over a three-minute span to push their lead to 30 points with four minutes to play. The Lions pushed their lead to as many as 32 in the final minute to run away with the victory in the final home game of the season.