SAN ANGELO– The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team fell 81-67 to Angelo State on Saturday. After trailing by 22 in the second half, the Lions cut the ASU lead to just six late but could not overcome the deficit.
 
The loss brings the Lions to 16-5 and 8-3 in the Lone Star Conference. The Rams improve to 15-5 and 8-3 in conference play.
 
The Lions return home on Thursday for a game against Cameron. The game will be played at 7:30 p.m. at the Field House. The game will be preceded by the Lion women against the Aggies. 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.
 
HEAD COACH JARET VON ROSENBERG AFTER THE GAME
- On the team's second half comeback: "It was a really positive outcome in that second half. We just played and were more aggressive and did the things that we do. We fought defensively. We did a better job finishing and getting the ball to where we need to offensively to be successful. We have to play that way for the whole game. And we will moving forward. It's a senior group and we will be ready to bounce back."
On the team's mindset coming out of the half: "Instead of looking at it as halves, we cut it into 4-minute mini games. And I think we won all five mini games in that second half. That's how you chip away at the lead. The clock just ran out on us. We cut it to six but when the clock ran down, it became a foul fest and it got back to 14. I hope we can build on that half."
- On the team's early struggles: "I told our guys, and maybe it was me but when you have a guy like Reggie out who controls the ball a lot for us, we just weren't crisp. We didn't have a good offensive flow in the first half. And that bled to our defense. You can't play good offensively if you keep guarding like we did. You have to play both sides of the ball, like we did in the second half."
- On the play of Carson Tuttle in his first start: "He was good for us. He got comfortable early getting us into the offense. He settled in very nicely and had a good game for us. We need him to continue to develop and continue to get better."
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Trey Conrod (Kilgore) led the team with 17 points, going 7-of-12 from the field.
- Willie Rooks (Houston - North Forest) had 16 points and led the team with seven rebounds.
- Deonta Terrell (Chicago, Ill.) had 14 points and led the team with three assists. Carson Tuttle (Mukilteo, Wash.) also scored in double figures with 11 points.
- The Lions shot 58 percent in the second half after shooting 30 percent in the first.
- The game was very clean as the teams combined to commit just 17 turnovers.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions got off to a cold start to the half, being held scoreless for the first three minutes of the game. Rooks made the first shot of the game for the Lions. ASU held an early 9-2 lead. The Lions began to hit shots and the teams traded buckets for several minutes. Midway through the half, the Lions trailed by eight.
 
The Lions cut the lead to six points with nine minutes to go in the half before ASU went on a 13-0 lead to pull away. Rooks hit a buzzer beating three to send the Lions into the half trailing 39-19.
 
Rooks led the way for the Lions with seven points. The Lions were held to 30 percent shooting in the half while ASU shot 55 percent.
 
 The Rams pushed their lead to 22 points early in the half before the Lions began to push back. Conrod hit an early three and also had a three-point play. Terrell also had multiple baskets as the Lions cut the lead to 13 points with 13 minutes to play. The teams began to trade baskets, with the Lions unable to cut the lead under 12. With six minutes left, the Lions trailed by 14.

The Lions made one final push in the final five minutes of the game. Tuttle hit a three and Conrod made a layup to cut the ASU lead under 10 points. Conrod hit another three and a putback layup by Rodney Brown cut the ASU lead to just seven points with less than three minutes to play. At the two minute mark, Terrell hit a layup and the ASU lead was just six points. It was not meant to be however as ASU hit its free throws and the Lions couldn't get the points they needed to get over the hump.