COMMERCE – Playing against the No. 1 team in the country, the Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team was tied with under two minutes to go, but the top ranked Lubbock Christian Chaps scored five of the last six points of Thursday night's game to survive 63-59 in front of 1,889 fans in the Field House.  
 
The Lions, who drop their second straight game, falling to 2-2 in Lone Star Conference play and 10-3 overall, trailed by as many as 11 in the first half. They fought back with a 10-1 run and were trailing by just one at halftime. Alphonso Willis (Atlanta, Ga.), who had team-high 18 points in his first start since December 20, tied it at 58 with 1:43 left.
 
Lubbock Christian's Rowan Mackenzie was fouled while shooting and made both free throws with 42 seconds left. The Lions' attempted three pointer went off the rim and their offensive rebound was stolen by the Chaps. They made just one of the two free throws and fouled Willis, being up three.
 
Willis made one of the two free throws to cut it to two, but the Lions did not have another attempt to tie at as Parker Hicks, the Chaps' leading scorer with 21 points, finished off a perfect 9 for 9 night at the free throw line and improved the Chaps' record to a perfect 15-0 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
 
In the first half, the Lions had the game's first two possession lead. After falling behind 5-2, Demarcus Demonia (Fort Washington, Md.) scored five points and Clashon Gaffney (Clarksville) added a floater to make it 9-5 at the 14:16 mark of the first half.
 
The Chaps chipped away at the Lion lead, scoring 24 of the next 35 points to take a 31-20 lead at the 3:23 mark of the first half. Willis and JJ Romer Rosario (Hialeah Gardens, Florida) scored five points each to pull to 32-30 with 48 seconds left in the first half. Willis drilled a three pointer with a second before the buzzer to give the Lions a 34-33 deficit at halftime.
 
Demonia scored the first points of the second half and regained the lead for the Lions for the first time in over 10 minutes of action. Demonia totaled seven points, two steals, and an assist, while battling foul trouble with four fouls.
 
The largest lead for either team in the second half was five for Lubbock Christian. The Lions last lead of the game came at the 11:35 mark of the half on a layup by Willis, which made the score 45-44 in favor of the Lions.
 
The Chaps outshot the Lions 50 percent to 37 percent in the second half. The Lions went 5 for 11 from beyond the arc in the first half, while going 2 for 12 in the second half. The Chaps went 7 for 22 from the distance in the game.
 
Four Lions had three or more fouls and they totaled 19 fouls as a team, while the Chaps had 11 total team fouls. Lubbock Christian went 16 for 20 at the line, while A&M-Commerce went 8 for 11.
 
Willis also led the team with eight rebounds and four assists. Augustine Ene (Carrollton – Creekview) totaled nine points and six rebounds. Gaffney tallied eight points, three rebounds, two blocks, and a steal.
 
The Lion bench outscored the Lubbock Christian bench, 15-8. Romer Rosario led the way with five points, Khaliq Abdul-Mateen (Cy-Lakes) and Leo Lara (Santa Rosa) had a three pointer each, while Carius Key (Irving – MacArthur) and Alex Peavy (San Antonio – Smithson Valley) had two points each. Rodney Brown (Beaumont – Westbrook) grabbed three rebounds.


POSTGAME INTERVIEW
 
UP NEXT
A&M-Commerce continues a three-game homestand against Eastern New Mexico on Saturday at 4 p.m. and hosts UT Tyler on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.