SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team conceded a run early in the second half of Saturday night's game against Westminster College and could not come back, losing 88-77 in Behnken Field House.

The Lions are now 0-2 after dropping both games of the LSC/RMAC Challenge hosted by Westminster. A&M-Commerce will now return home and play its next five contests in the Field House, starting with the home opener on Friday at 7 p.m. vs. Central Baptist.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Westminster shot 60.0 percent from the field in the contest, including a 17-of-26 (65.4 percent) rate in the second half. The Lions shot 38.0 percent (27-of-71) from the field.
- Five Lions scored in double figures, led by 15 points from Deon Barrett (Lancaster) on 6-of-15 shooting.
- Leo Lara (Santa Rosa) had a career-high 14 points and Austin Grandstaff (Rockwall) scored 12 points, with each player making four three-pointers.
- Rodney Brown (Beaumont – West Brook) scored 11 points and had a team-high eight rebounds, while Deonta Terrell (Chicago, Ill.) scored 10.
- The Lions were out-rebounded 37-26 in the game.
 
HEAD COACH JARET VON ROSENBERG AFTER THE GAME
- Overall thoughts on the game: "We're disappointed to go 0-2 on the road trip obviously. This was a tale of two games where I thought we played better offensively and had major let downs in stretches defensively. Westminster did a really good job capitalizing off those mistakes. Again you can't take anything away from them, they were the better team tonight and deserved to win."
 
- What was the difference between the first half and the second, where WC shot 65 percent?: "They just made us pay when we made a mistake. They shot the ball well when they got the looks from inside and out. They were more physical and disciplined on both sides of the ball."
 
- How important is it to respond well with five straight games at home? : "We've put ourselves in a hole, but we'll get back to practice and find our Identity. It's not going to get easier, our best basketball is way ahead of us."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions started the game off on the right foot, as Brown made the game's first shot, but the Griffins were the hotter team early. Westminster made five of its first seven shots on the way to a 14-5 lead in the first five and a half minutes of action. Brown halted a run with a layup and the Lions went on an 20-8 rally, switching the lead to TAMUC's favor at 25-22 with 8:11 left in the half after consecutive three-pointers from Lara and Grandstaff and a Barrett layup.
 
The remainder of the first half was a see-saw battle, as neither team led by more than four points in the final eight minutes. Westminster was up 37-33 with a minute and a half left in the frame, but Grandstaff's triple cut the halftime margin to 37-36. Grandstaff had all 12 of his points in the first half, as the Lions made seven three-pointers and shot 37.1 percent (13-of-25) from the floor in the period.
 
Both teams were on fire coming out of the locker room, and the Lions were the more successful team early in the second half. A quick 15-8 run out of the break had A&M-Commerce ahead 51-45 just three minutes into the period. Terrell started the Lion scoring with a jumper, followed by triples from Lara and Barrett, short buckets from Brown and Terrell, and another Barrett long-range conversion.
 
That lead switched when the Lions only attempted three shots and had three turnovers in the span of five minutes. Westminster took advantage and turned that into an 11-point run, going up 56-51 with just under 13 minutes on the clock. The Lions hung around and narrowed the deficit to three points at 8:46 on a Lara triple to make it 64-61, but the home team pulled away late.
 
Over the next six minutes, the Griffins outscored the Lions 16-6, and led 80-67 with 2:33 to play. A&M-Commerce suffered a long shooting cold streak where they went 2-for-14, with one basket coming on a breakaway dunk after a steal. The Lions continued to battle down the stretch, but the Griffins' shooting prowess handed A&M-Commerce the loss.