SAN ANGELO – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team had a huge run late in the second half, but it was too little too late in a 70-56 loss to Angelo State in the Junell Center on Tuesday afternoon.
 
The Lions fall to 6-6 overall and in the Lone Star Conference, while Angelo State is now 6-9.

A&M-Commerce has two games remaining in the regular season, hosting Cameron at 6 p.m. Thursday before traveling to Lawton, Okla., to take on the Aggies on Saturday afternoon.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions shot 33.3 percent (18-of-54) from the floor, while the Rams shot 43.9 percent (25-of-57) from the field. A&M-Commerce's excellent three-point defense continued, as the Lions limited ASU to 4-of-19 (21.1 percent) from beyond the arc.
- Augustine Ene (Carrollton – Creekview) was the only Lion in double figures with a career-high 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting with an 8-of-9 success rate at the free throw line.
- Carson Tuttle (Mukilteo, Wash.) had nine points and a team-high five rebounds.
- Angelo State won the rebounding battle 45-29 and scored 40 points in the paint.
 
HEAD COACH JARET von ROSENBERG AFTER THE GAME
It was an old-school slugfest to be honest with you. Nobody shot the ball particularly well at all. There were a lot of fouls, and a lot of fouls that weren't called. It was a very physical matchup, as it always is with Angelo. Give them a lot credit, they were prepared and did a really nice job on us defensively. I thought we got some good looks, especially in the first half. We were a little bit better in the second half but it just wasn't going down. When you miss that many shots and they're that good in transition, it puts a lot of pressure on your transition defense. In the halfcourt I thought we did really well, but they got out on the run so many times, that's how they got to the foul line and they got some easy opportunities.
 
You've got to make shots when you get to the rim, you've got to make shots when you get to the foul line, and then defensively we had some breakdowns, but you expect some of that on a one-day prep when you're guarding actions a little bit differently than you're used to. I'll live with the halfcourt defense we played, and even the halfcourt offense.
 
We have a quick turnaround with a game Thursday, it doesn't get any easier and nobody feels sorry for us. Cameron's going to come in and try and steal one.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions scored the opening four points of the game on shots by Demarcus Demonia (Fort Washington, Md.) before Angelo made five straight shots and six of seven to take a 17-6 lead with 11:27 left in the first half. The Lions missed eight consecutive field goals before an Ene jumper ended the skid.
 
JJ Romer Rosario (Hialeah Gardens, Fla.) scored five straight points on a layup and a triple cutting the lead to six points with seven minutes left in the half. The lead hovered around the two possession realm until the final two minutes of the half, when ASU scored seven straight points. Alex Peavy (Smithson Valley) hit a late jumper to make it a 36-25 game at halftime. A&M-Commerce made 11-of-30 (36.7 percent) of its field goals in the halfm but only 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) of its three-pointers.
 
Another cold snap early in the second half hurt the Lions, as they missed nine straight field goals after scoring the half's first points. Dante Adams (Osceola, Ark.) hit a three-pointer to end the poor string, but the Rams took off to pull away.
 
The Rams scored 10 straight points around two missed Lion shots and a pair of TAMUC turnovers, stretching the home side's advantage to 65-41 with just under five minutes to play.
 
A&M-Commerce responded, though, with Leo Lara (Santa Rosa) hitting a jumper that would kickstart a 12-0 rally. Ene scored seven points in the run, but there was not enough time for the Lions to complete a comeback effort.