COMMERCE– The No. 25 Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team fell to Western New Mexico 74-73 in overtime on Thursday night. After battling back and forth all night, including a last second shot to force overtime, the Lions' had the final shot of the game but could not come up with the win.

The Lions fall to 14-4 and 6-2 in the Lone Star Conference. The Mustangs improve to 4-11 and 1-7 in conference play. The game was a part of Youth Sports Night at the Field House.

The Lions continue their homestand as they host UT Permian Basin on Saturday as part of Alumni Day. The game will be played at 4 p.m. at the Field House, preceded by the Lion women's basketball team against the Falcons at 2 p.m. Tickets for the doubleheader are available at WeAreLionsTix.com, by calling (903) 468-8756 or by visiting the Lion Sales & Service Box Office in the Field House.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Reggie Reid (Harlem, Ga.) co-led the Lions with 19 points and co-led the team with three assists.
- Willie Rooks (Houston - North Forest) also led the Lions with 19 points, and also pulled in nine rebounds with a team-high four steals. Rooks played the most minutes in the game, logging 42 total minutes. 
- Rodney Brown (Beaumont - West Brook) had 11 points and added 11 rebounds, recording his first double-double of the season.
- Srdan Budimir (Karadjordjevo, Serbia) also scored in double figures with 11 points. Deonta Terrell (Chicago, Ill.) pitched in nine points and Trey Conrod (Kilgore) had eight points.
- The Lions shot 36 percent from the field in the game, struggling from three-point range.
- There were six ties and seven lead changes in the game. It was the second overtime game of the season for the Lions.
 
HEAD COACH JARET VON ROSENBERG AFTER THE GAME
- His thoughts on the game: "This is a tough pill to swallow. We just didn't play well. That is the worst offensive outing we have had. I don't think it had anything to do with the shots we took, we just didn't make shots. And we weren't good enough defensively. We forced 22 turnovers, which helped a bunch and kept us in the game. But we weren't good enough defensively to withstand the woes we had shooting the basketball. They just played a little bit better than we did tonight. We give Western New Mexico a lot of credit for this one."
- On the game's final shot: "We had a good look at it, but it just didn't go in. We will bounce back. We are a resilient group with a lot of seniors. They will be hungry come Saturday."
- On his team's fight until the end: "We gave ourselves a chance after we went down seven late. We fought and battled and gave ourselves a chance to win. We just didn't come out on the right side of it tonight."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions jumped off to a hot start with an early 16-7 lead. The Mustangs answered back a few minutes later to cut the Lions lead to 20-17. The Lions built their lead back to nine points with four minutes to play and the teams traded buckets  before the Lions took a double-digit 40-30 lead into halftime. The Lions only trailed for 22 seconds of the first half.

Reid came out the gates strong with 11 first half points and two assists. Rooks also added in 10 points to help propel the Lions in the first half.

The Lions opened the second half with a thunderous dunk from Brown before the Mustangs went on a run, cutting the Lion lead to four points with 16 minutes left in regulation. The teams traded buckets again before the Mustangs went on a run to tie the game at 48 midway through the half.

It was back-and-forth the rest of the contest as neither team took a commanding lead. With seven minutes left in regulation, WNMU pushed its lead to seven-points, their largest of the game.

The Lions fought back to cut the lead down and give themselves a chance. Cutting the lead to two points, the Lions held the ball with 34 seconds left and a chance to tie. A shot went off the mark but Brown was there and tipped the ball into the basket to tie the game at 65. The Lion defense came up with a stop and the game went into overtime.

The Mustangs quickly took the lead in the overtime period but the teams traded shots throughout. There were four lead changes in the overtime period. The Lions twice took the lead, including a three-pointer from Rooks with 25 seconds left to give the Lions a one-point lead. WNMU was able to get to the foul line and retook the lead with six seconds to play. The Lions ran a full-court play and got an open shot but it would not fall at the horn and the Mustangs left with the victory.