LAREDO – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team picked up a 78-65 win over A&M International on Thursday. The Lions jumped out to a lead early and held it throughout the rest of the game.
 
The win brings the Lions to 10-4 on the season and 6-2 in the Lone Star Conference. The Dustdevils fall to 2-12 on the season and 0-8 in conference play.
 
The Lions return to the court on Saturday as they travel to face A&M-Kingsville. The game will be played at 4 p.m. at the Steinke Center in Kingsville.
 
HEAD COACH JARET von ROSENBERG AFTER THE GAME
- On the play of Wayne Stewart: "He has a great feel when he's out there of where he needs to be and where he can score and where our guys can find him."
- On the defensive effort: "We forced 21 turnovers today. That something we haven't done in some games. When we are able to force turnovers and get out in transition, it helps our offense. We were able to get stops and not let them get set, which helped the flow of our offense."
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Wayne Stewart (Philadelphia, Pa.) led the way with 26 points, going 9-of-13 from the field. He also had six rebounds.
- Deonta Terrell (Chicago, Ill.) added 13 points and had four rebounds and three assists.
- Darnell Wright (Chicago, Ill.) led the team with seven rebounds to go with nine points, while Clarence Evans (Austin - Aggieland Panthers) led the team with six assists.
- The Lions led for all but 28 seconds of the game, leading by as many as 25.
- The Lions caused 21 turnovers, which led to 15 points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
After giving up the first basket of the game, the Lions then went on a 7-0 run to establish an early lead in the game. The Lions held the Dustdevils without a point for more than six minutes. Three consecutive triples gave the Lions a 16-4 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half.
 
TAMIU broke its shooting struggles but could not hold down the Lion offense, as the Lions continued to find the basket. TAMIU cut the Lion lead down to nine but going into the half, the Lions led 35-22.
 
The Dustdevils again cut the Lion lead down to nine points early in the second half, before back-to-back buckets from Stewart brought their lead back up to 13 points. Stewart had seven points in a row as the Lions pushed their lead to 23 points at the 12 minute mark of the second half.
 
TAMIU cut the Lion lead back down to 15 points after going on a mini run at the eight minute mark. However, it was short-lived as A&M-Commerce again made a push to bring their lead back up to 20 points.
 
The teams traded baskets for several more minutes before the Dustdevils cut the Lion lead to just 10 points with a minute and a half left. However, the Lions hit their free throws and pulled out the win.