COLLEGE STATION – Playing their final game in the season-opening three-game road trip, the East Texas A&M University men's basketball team came away with an 87-55 loss to the No. 13/15 ranked Texas A&M Aggies on Friday night at Reed Arena.
 
Just over 24 hours following the Texas A&M University System's Board of Regents approval to change the university name to East Texas A&M, the Lions played the Aggies in their home opener for the second straight season.
 
The Aggies picked up their first win of the season and are now 1-1 thus far this season, while the Lions went 0-3 on the road swing to begin the season.
 
The first seven points of the game were scored by Texas A&M and the Aggies never trailed in the game. The Lions were not able to cut the Aggie lead into one possession after the 7-0 run to start the game, and trailed by as much as 29 in the first half. The Aggies extended their lead to 35 at the 12:34 mark of the second half.
 
East Texas A&M shot 48 percent in the second half and went 8 for 11 at the line in the game, but the Aggies outshot the Lions, shooting 56 percent in the game, while the Lions shot 39 percent.
 
The Lions were led in scoring by Scooter Williams Jr. (Chattanooga, Tenn.), who came off the bench to score 12 points on 4 for 9 shooting as well as three assists, while Demarco Bethea (Sellars, S.C.) earned his first start as a Lion and grabbed team-best four rebounds.
 
Zhuric Phelps came off the bench for the Aggies and scored 18 points to lead Texas A&M, shooting 8 for 13 from the field.

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The Lions welcome Southern on Wednesday for the home opener in the Field House at 6:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at www.LionAthletics.com/tickets.