COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team finally comes home to start the 2021 calendar year, hosting St. Mary's for a pair of games which will serve as the Lone Star Conference openers for both teams.
 
WHO: St. Mary's at A&M-Commerce
WHERE: Commerce | The Field House
WHEN: 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 2 | 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 3
RECORDS: A&M-Commerce is 1-1 on the season entering the weekend. St. Mary's is 0-1.

TELEVISION/LIVE VIDEO: Lone Star Conference Digital Network (Direct Link)
RADIO: Lion Sports Network | KETR-FM 88.9 (Streaming on KETR.org)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE

LIONS KICK OFF 2021 WITH RATTLERS
• The Lions play games number two and three of the season series against St. Mary's this weekend.
• A&M-Commerce took a win in the first leg, 85-69, in San Antonio on December 19.
• 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 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 was the game's high point man with 18 points, while also tying for the team lead with five rebounds.
• The Lions out-rebounded the Rattlers 40-36 and led for more than 33 minutes in the game.
 
ALL-TIME vs. ST. MARY'S
• This is the 20th all-time meeting between the Lions and the Rattlers in a series dating back to the 1963-64 season.
•The Lions took a 10-9 series lead with the win in the Alamo City on Dec. 19.
• With the addition of that game, along with the two LSC games, the Lions and Rattlers are now scheduled to meet three times this year.
• In 1963-64 and 1973-74, these teams  met in a best-of-three series for a berth in the NAIA National Tournament, with StMU prevailing in three games both times. The first eight meetings between these squads were all in the postseason.
• The Lions are 5-0 against StMU in the Field House with wins in 1964, 1974, 1977, 1999, and 2001.
• TAMUC technically has a home loss against the Rattlers, as the 79-78 loss at SMU's Moody Coliseum last year was classified as a home contest.
 

Date	Opponent		Score		Site
03/02/1964	ST. MARY'S ^p	W	65-59		Commerce
03/04/1964	at St. Mary's ^p	L	44-59		San Antonio
03/05/1964	at St. Mary's ^p	L	55-58		San Antonio
03/02/1974	ST. MARY'S ^p	W	84-79		Commerce
03/04/1974	at St. Mary's ^p	L	61-85		San Antonio
03/05/1974	at St. Mary's ^p	L	69-77		San Antonio
03/01/1977	ST. MARY'S ^p	W	72-56		Commerce
03/03/1979	at St. Mary's ^p	L	78-84		San Antonio
12/09/1994	vs St. Mary's	W	85-62		Wichita Falls
12/11/1999	ST. MARY'S	W	65-55		Commerce
02/02/2000	at St. Mary's	L	68-76		San Antonio
11/27/2000	at St. Mary's	L	62-68		San Antonio
11/27/2001	ST. MARY'S	W	67-56		Commerce
11/26/2005	at St. Mary's	W	76-75		San Antonio
11/25/2006	at St. Mary's	L	63-67		San Antonio
11/27/2009	at St. Mary's	W	73-59		San Antonio
11/27/2010	at St. Mary's	W	84-65		San Antonio
11/21/2019	ST. MARY'S *	L	78-79		Dallas
12/19/2020	at St. Mary's	W	85-69		San Antonio

 
Overall: 10-9 | Conference: 0-1 | Home: 5-1 | Away: 4-8 | Neutral: 1-0
 
LOOKING AT LION HISTORY
• This is the 23rd time the Lions have played on January 2nd, with a 7-15 overall record. This is the ninth game on this date in the Field House, with the Lions winning four of the last five.
• This is the latest home opener in a season for the Lions since the 1945 season, where the Lions played only nine games after three semesters with no action during World War II. That season's home opener was on January 19, a 30-24 loss to North Texas State.
 
• This is the 23rd time the Lions have played on January 3rd, with a 12-10 overall record. This is the sixth game in the Field House on this date, and the first since a 71-52 loss to Southwest Baptist in 1991. The last six games on this date have been road contests.
 
• This weekend also marks the 71st season of basketball in the Field House, as the first game in the building was a 52-49 overtime loss to Midwestern on January 4, 1951.
 
CAREER PERCENTAGE LEADERS
• Head coach Jaret von Rosenberg is ranked third in school history in career winning percentage.
 

Rk	Coach	W	Record
1.	Bob Rogers	.769	113-34
2.	Will Hill Acker	.708	46-19
3.	Jaret von Rosenberg	.677	65-31
4.	Darrell Tully	.621	59-36
5.	Dennis Vinzant	.605	92-60
6.	Sam Walker	.585	285-202
7.	Norman Pilgrim	.547	152-126
8.	Paul Peak	.532	134-118
9.	Jim Gudger	.515	202-190
10.	Jerry Matthews	.440	99-126

 
MOVING UP THE RANKS
• Head coach Jaret von Rosenberg is now eighth all-time in wins at A&M-Commerce.
 

Rk	Coach	W	Season
1.	Sam Walker	285	17 (2000-17)
2.	Jim Gudger	202	14 (1969-82)
3.	Norman Pilgrim	152	11 (1957-67)
4.	Paul Peak	134	9 (1991-99)
5.	Bob Rogers	113	5 (1952-56)
6.	Jerry Matthews	99	8 (1983-90)
7.	Dennis Vinzant	92	8 (1937-45)
8.	Jaret von Rosenberg	65	4 (2017-pr)
9.	Darrell Tully	59	4 (1946-49)
10.	Will Hill Acker	46	3 (1928-30)

 
GETTING TO FIFTY... FAST
• Lion head coach Jaret von Rosenberg picked up his 50th win as the Lions' head coach last season.
• He is the fourth-fastest coach to 50 wins as the Lions' boss, and one of only four coaches to accomplish this in his third season.
 

Rk	Coach	Gm	Season
1.	Norman Pilgrim	58	3rd (1957-60)
2.	Bob Rogers	60	3rd (1952-55)
3.	Dennis Vinzant	70	3rd (1937-40)
4.	Jaret von Rosenberg	71	3rd (2017-pr)
5.	Darrell Tully	78	4th (1946-50)
6.	Sam Walker	96	4th (2000-04)
7.	Jerry Matthews	124	5th (1983-88)
8.	Paul Peak	125	5th (1991-96)
9.	Jim Gudger	131	5th (1969-74)