COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team will host two Lone Star Conference games this week. The Lions host Cameron on Thursday and MSU Texas on Saturday.
 
Cameron – Greek Night
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (16-5, 8-3 LSC) vs. Cameron (8-13, 4-7 LSC)
WHERE: The Field House in Commerce, Texas
WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: lionathletics.com/live
LIVE AUDIO: ketr.org
TICKETS: Click HERE
 
MSU TEXAS – College of Business 'Fill the Field House' & Play4Kay
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce vs. MSU Texas (6-15, 2-9 LSC)
WHERE: The Field House in Commerce, Texas
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 9 at 4 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: lionathletics.com/live
LIVE AUDIO: ketr.org
 
The Lions are coming off of a split on the road last week. The team defeated A&M-Kingsville on Thursday before falling to Angelo State on Saturday. A&M-Commerce head coach Jaret von Rosenberg liked how his team fought in the Kingsville game and the perseverance his team showed in the second game against ASU.
 
"Overall it was a good week," he said. "When you go against two very good programs in tough environments, it's hard to win. To come away with a split was good. The most positive thing was we played three really good halves. But in order to win on the road, you have to play four good halves.
 
"Against Angelo, Coach Boone had a great game plan and they did a nice job of jumping us in that first half. We battled back in that second half and played a lot better but at the end of the day, when you get down 20 it is almost impossible to come back against a good team like that. We give them a lot of credit. It is good to get back home and to have these opportunities coming up."
 
The Lions now face Cameron and MSU Texas. The Lions defeated both teams on the road earlier this season. But von Rosenberg knows it is always tougher the second time around.
 
"Every time you play a team a second time in this league, they are going to know what you do and you are going to know what they do," he said. "There are great coaches in this league. They will have their teams ready to go. We have to focus on Cameron right now. It is going to be a tough game. They play a lot of guards and are a tough matchup problem for us. We have to guard and rebound and try and execute on the offensive end.
 
"But I think the biggest takeaway from this last weekend is that we have to come out with the right mindset and the right energy. That is something we didn't do well and I hope, with a lot of seniors and a lot of guys who play a lot of minutes, I think they will respond to that and be ready to go when we tip off Thursday."
 
With Greek Night and Fill the Field House this week, von Rosenberg is looking for two big home crowds to help propel his team as they look to keep pace in the LSC standings. He expressed his thanks to all Lion students and the community for their support.
 
"Our campus and community have been unbelievable this year," he said. "We have Greek Night on Thursday. We appreciate the Greek support that they give to all our athletic programs. We expect Thursday to be a great crowd. Then Fill the Field House has been a great event. I want to thank Dr. Humphreys and the College of Business for their help in making that happen.
 
"We play well at home and that's because of the crowd and the support we have behind us. It is a neat environment for our students and a good opportunity for our community to come together and hopefully watch two of our teams come away with wins."
 
Tickets to Thursday's doubleheader are available at WeAreLionsTix.com, by calling (903) 468-8756 or by visiting the Lion Sales & Service Box Office in the Field House. Tickets for Saturday's contest are provided free of charge thanks to A&M-Commerce's College of Business.