SAN ANTONIO – Hot streaks and outside shooting led the Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team to an 85-69 victory over St. Mary's University in Bill Greehey Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
The win pushes the Lions' record to 1-1 overall heading into the holiday break, while StMU is 0-1. The two sides are scheduled to meet in the first games of the new year on Saturday, January 2, and Sunday, January 3, 2021, in Commerce.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions held leads in every major statistical category, including shooting 53.6 percent (30-of-56) from the field, with a 14-of-29 (48.3) connection rate on three-pointers.
- Devin Bethely (Baton Rouge, La.) recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists. He is the first Lion to have a double-double with points and assists since Reggie Reid and Willie Rooks notched triple-doubles in 2018-19. His 10 assists ties a career high, which he set against St. Mary's while playing at Tarleton last spring.
- Demarcus Demonia (Fort Washington, Md.) was the game's high point man with 18 points, while also tying for the team lead with five rebounds.
- Augustine Ene (Carrollton – Creekview) scored 10 points in the second half to quell a St. Mary's run and help seal the Lion victory.
- The Lions out-rebounded the Rattlers 40-36 and led for more than 33 minutes in the game.

HEAD COACH JARET von ROSENBERG AFTER THE GAME

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half saw the two sides exchange runs, with the Lions starting off with a 7-point surge after conceding the opening basket. St. Mary's responded with a 9-2 run to take an 11-9 lead with 13:20 to play in the half before the Lions hit the gas.

A&M-Commerce scored 16 of the game's next 18 points, with Bethely and Demonia each netting six points in that run. A Carson Tuttle (Mukilteo, Wash.) three-pointer at the 8:10 mark gave the Lions a 25-13 advantage. The Rattlers narrowed that margin down to six points, but the Lions immediately restored the double-digit lead with a pair of Alex Peavy (Smithson Valley) free throws and two Demonia fastbreak buckets.
 
Three straight St. Mary's baskets brought the Lion lead down to seven points, but the blue and gold closed the half on a 13-3 run in the final three minutes. JJ Romer Rosario (Hialeah Gardens, Fla.), Leo Lara (Santa Rosa), and Bethely all drained three-pointers in that rally, which gave A&M-Commerce a 49-32 lead at the break.
 
The Lions shot 58.6 percent (17-of-29) from the field in the first half, including 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) from beyond the arc. Bethely and Demonia each had 12 points at the intermission, and Bethely had already dished out nine assists on the 13 baskets he had not scored in the period.
 
After Rodney Brown (Beaumont - West Brook) scored on the opening possession of the second half, the Lions went cold, missing eight straight shots as the Rattlers fought back to within 10 points at 51-41 with 14 minutes to play.
 
Ene then took the game over for the Lions, scoring A&M-Commerce's next 10 points in just over two minutes' time. That rally pushed the Lion lead back to 17 points at 61-44 with 11:32 to go.
 
A&M-Commerce's long distance shooting heated up in the latter third of the period, putting the game out of reach as Lara, Bethely, Demonia, Peavy, and Niv Rozenholtz (St. Legier, Switzerland) all dialed in from the land of three. The Rozenholtz trey pushed the lead to a game-high 27 points at 85-58 and the Lions would cruise to victory.