COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team lost a hard-fought battle to St. Mary's 68-61 on Sunday. The Lions fell behind early and kept chipping away but fell just short of the comeback.
 
The loss brings the Lions to 2-2 on the season and 1-1 in the Lone Star Conference. The Rattlers climb to 1-2 on the year and 1-1 in conference play.
 
The Lions return to action on Friday as they travel to Lubbock to face Lubbock Christian. The game will be played 5:30 p.m. at the Rip Griffin Center.
 
HEAD COACH JARET VON ROSENBERG AFTER THE GAME
- On the game: "We did some good things. You just can't miss layups and we missed 50-50 balls. We just didn't play well enough to win. That's one of the worst games we've played at home in a long time. We just have to play better and play cleaner."
- On St. Mary's adjustments: "You have to give St. Mary's a lot of credit. Both games, they really slowed the tempo down. We give them a lot of credit, being shorthanded and after a tough one yesterday where they had a chance to win, they came back and brought it again. It got close but they made more plays than we did down the stretch."
- On the offensive production: "I liked the majority of our shots, you just have to make open threes and layups. On their end, they made their shots around the rim and they finished those plays. That's the difference tonight. The Lone Star is a monster. These back-to-backs are tough, you just have to be tougher mentally and be ready."
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions held the lead briefly in the first half, but trailed for more than 38 minutes of the contest.
- Augustine Ene (Carrollton - Creekview) led the team with 18 points, all of which came in the second half.
- Rodney Brown (Beaumont - West Brook) approached a double-double with eight points and 12 rebounds. Devin Bethely (Baton Rouge, La.) added eight points and four assists. Carson Tuttle (Mukilteo, Wash.) had six points and a team-high five assists.
- The Lions were held to 33 percent shooting in the game, while St. Mary's shot 44 percent.
- A&M-Commerce had 23 offensive rebounds and scored 17 second-chance points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions struggled to start, making just one of their first five shots. Meanwhile, the Rattlers came out on a hot streak, leading 14-5 after seven minutes of play. The Rattlers made six of their first 10 shots, while turnovers plagued A&M-Commerce early.
 
Bethely started to pull the Lions back, hitting back-to-back threes to jumpstart the Lion offense. That stemmed the Rattler run but StMU continued to match the Lion points, keeping their lead in double figures. The Lions continued to fire from three, with multiple triples falling to keep the game within reach.
 
At the seven-minute mark, the Lions started a mini run, cutting the Rattler lead to just six points. The teams traded field goals for the remainder of the half, as StMU went into the halftime break with a 36-29 lead.
 
The Lions shot 38 percent in the first half, while the Rattlers shot 47 percent from the field. The Lions had seven giveaways in the half, while StMU had only two. Bethely, Lara and Brown each had six points in the half to lead A&M-Commerce.
 
The second half started out even as both teams executed well to start on the offensive end. After three minutes, the Lions went on a run, with a three-point play and a three-pointer from Ene, cutting the Rattler lead to just two points. StMU answered back with a 7-0 run of their own to reestablish their lead. At the midway mark of the half, the Lions trailed 51-45.
 
A pair of defensive stops from the Lions allowed them to cut the Rattler lead once again, as Demarcus Demonia had a pair of buckets. The Lions continued their assault from beyond the arc to keep the score within one score with two minutes left. The Lions were within striking distance late but could not get over the hump to take the lead.