ODESSA – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team ends the regular season with an 87-81 win on Saturday over the UT Permian Basin Falcons at the Falcon Dome.
 
The Lions post a record of 17-7 overall and 9-5 record in Lone Star Conference play, which ties St. Mary's for the fourth best record in the conference. The Rattlers' win over the Lions last Saturday gives them the head-to-head tiebreaker and they receive a first round bye.
 
A&M-Commerce is the No. 5 seed and begins the LSC Tournament with a first round matchup against Texas A&M-Kingsville on Tuesday night in the Field House at 7 p.m. The winner of the game advances to play St. Mary's in Frisco on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.
 
In Saturday's game, the Lions led 8-0 to start and had a lead as large as 11 in the first half, but the Falcons stormed back to tie it at 36 at the half, thanks in large part to a 7-0 run over a span of two minutes.
 
Carson Tuttle (Mukilteo, Wash.) was 3 from 3 beyond-the-arc in the first half for nine points. Miles Daniels had 18 points in the first half for the Falcons.
 
UT Permian Basin led 48-43 with 16:18 to go, but two straight three pointers from Demarcus Demonia (Fort Washington, Md.) gave the lead back to the Lions, who trailed just once after that point. Demonia had 14 points in the second half. He totaled 17 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals in the game.
 
An 9-2 run by the Lions when the game was tied at 57, gave them some separation. Their largest lead in the second half was 10 points and it came with 36 seconds left on two free throws by Rodney Brown (Beaumont – Westbrook), who had 10 points, five rebounds, and two assists.
 
Tuttle finished the game with 13 points, six assists, two steals, and a rebound. Alphonso Willis (Altanta, Ga.) totaled 14 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Clashon Gaffney (Clarksville) tallied nine points, four rebounds, and two blocks. Jairus Roberson knocked down four three pointers, also recorded a rebound, an assist, and a block.
 
Along with Brown's 10 points off the bench, Khaliq Abdul-Mateen (Cy Lakes) scored eight points and grabbed a rebound. Augustine Ene (Carrollton – Creekview) had four points and two steals.
 
Daniels totaled 29 points for the Falcons, while Lemmie Howard had 20 points.
 
A&M-Commerce shot 11 for 21 from distance and 22 for 28 from the line. Saturday was the first ever win for the Lions in Odessa.
 

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Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. against the Javelinas on Tuesday. Tickets can be purchased at LionAthletics.com/Tickets.