COMMERCE – Despite being held to no field goals in the last five minutes on Monday afternoon, the Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team prevailed 68-65 over the Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions at the Field House.
 
Carson Tuttle (Mukilteo, Wash.) scored career-high 18 points in the game, including 10 for 10 from the free throw line. Tuttle went 8 for 8 at the line in second half to help A&M-Commerce hold off UAFS and was the only Lion to score in the final six minutes. The A&M-Commerce Lions improve to 8-1 on the season in the final game before the holiday break.
 
Arkansas-Fort Smith trailed by 14 points, their largest deficit of the game, with 5:46 to go on a three pointer by Tuttle. The UAFS Lions scored 14 of the next 15 points to pull to 64-63 with nine seconds to go. The lone point scored by the A&M-Commerce Lions during the stretch was a free throw by Demarcus Demonia (Fort Washington, Md.).
 
Despite being outscored during the final stretch of the game, A&M-Commerce did not trail, neither was the game tied. Tuttle made all four of his free throws in the final seven seconds to keep the UAFS Lions at bay. Matthew Wilson scored 28 points for UAFS, who falls to 6-5 on the season.
 
In the eight meetings between the two teams, neither team has lost at home, while A&M-Commerce won the lone neutral site game. Both teams meet in Fort Smith on February 3 as part of the Lone Star Conference schedule.
 
A&M-Commerce fell behind 10-2 in the first four minutes of the game. Wilson had six of the 10 points. A mini 5-0 run on a three pointer by Jairus Roberson (DeSoto) and an alley oop scored by Clashon Gaffney (Clarksville) from Demonia trimmed the deficit to three. The Lions stormed back to tie the game at 17 on a free throw by Demonia and took a 24-23 lead, their first of the game, on an and-one by Alphonso Willis (Atlanta, Ga.).
 
Falling behind for the first time in the game, Arkansas-Fort Smith ended the half on a 6-2 scoring run to lead 29-26 at the break. A&M-Commerce shot 30.4 percent from the field, while Arkansas-Fort Smith shot 34.5 percent.
 
The lead was exchanged by both teams in the first three minutes of the second half. A three by Tuttle gave the Lions a 34-33 lead, they quickly improved it to 38-33 on a 7-0 run. A&M-Commerce did not trail in the game after the three pointer by Tuttle at the 17:16 mark of the second half.
 
Gaffney tallied four blocks, six rebounds, and seven points. Tuttle had five rebounds and three assists with his 18 points. Demonia stuffed the stat-sheet with seven points, three rebounds, four assists, and a block. Willis and Augustine Ene (Carrollton – Creekview) scored 12 points. Willis had eight rebounds as well. Roberson recorded nine of the 12 bench points.
 

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A&M-Commerce faces rematches against two recent opponents to start LSC play after the 11-day holiday break. The Lions host Midwestern State on Friday, December 31, and DBU on Sunday, January 2, 2022, with both games scheduled for 4 p.m.