TAMPA, Fla. – The East Texas A&M University men's basketball team ended non-conference play with an 88-62 to the South Florida Bulls on Saturday afternoon at the Yuengling Center.
 
The Lions are 2-11 on the season with the loss, going 2-9 in non-conference games, while South Florida is 6-6. This was the first meeting between the two teams.
 
The Bulls jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but the Lions tied the game at nine, scoring five in a row. USF went on an 16-0 run from that point as the Lions went over seven minutes without having scored a point. The Bulls shot 66 percent in the first half, while the Lions shot 33 percent. USF had a lead as big as 26 in the first half.
 
At the 10:41 mark of the second half, the Bulls hit a fastbreak layup to lead 70-39, the largest margin in the game, but the Lions scored the next 10 points, though they were not able to get the deficit below 20 points at any point in the second half.
 
Tay Mosher (The Colony) came off the bench and went 4 for 5 from deep for team-high 12 points. Scooter Williams Jr. (Chattanooga, Tenn.) scored 11, while Khaliq Abdul-Mateen (Cy-Lakes) tallied 10 points and led the team with seven rebounds.
 
USF was led in scoring by Kobe Knox, who scored 19 off the bench. Quincy Ademokoya scored 16. The Bulls finished the game shooting 61 percent from the field, 13 for 27 from deep, and had the 44-22 edge in bench points.
 
The Lions forced 16 turnovers and scored 16 off turnovers, while the Bulls scored 29 off 17 turnovers from the Lions. USF scored 42 points in the paint and East Texas A&M added 28.
 

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The Lions return to action with a pair of Southland Conference games on January 4 and 6, hosting McNeese and Nicholls, respectively. Tickets can be purchased at Lionathletics.com/tickets.