HOUSTON – A career-high 35 from Kalen Williams and 23 from Tommie Lewis gave the Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team a 98-85 win over the Houston Christian Huskies on Saturday afternoon at Sharp Gym, inching closer to a SLC Tournament berth.
 
The Lions have won two of their last three and are now 5-11 in Southland Conference play with two games to play. A&M-Commerce is 11-18 overall, while HCU is 6-21 overall and 4-12 in conference play. The 98 points scored are the most in a conference game since a 102-78 win at No. 10 DBU on December 19, 2019.
 
With the win, the Lions have a one-game lead for seventh place in the SLC standings over New Orleans and HCU. A win on Monday over Lamar and losses for New Orleans and HCU secures the Lions' second straight trip to the Southland Tournament.
 
The Huskies hit two three-pointers in a row to take a 13-6 lead with 14:50 left in the first half, but the Lions served back a 9-0 run to re-take the lead. Neither side had a lead bigger than three, until a quick 4-0 run by the Lions at the 6:29 mark, leading 29-24.
 
A 10-2 run over a stretch of two minutes put the Lions up 48-35, which was the largest lead in the first half for the Lions, who were up 50-40 at halftime.
 
Over the first 3:51 of the second half, HCU used a 13-4 run to come to within one, 54-53. The Lions never let the game get tied, and served back a 9-0 run to take an 11-point lead at the 13:30 mark. HCU was not able to get the deficit below six from that point and the largest deficit was 21 points, which came on a pair of free throws from Williams (Augusta, Ga.).
 
The Lion starting lineup accounted for 74 of the team's 98 points. Williams shot 14 for 26, including going 6 for 6 at the line for his 35 points, which surpass his previous career-high of 33. He had team-best six assists as well.
 
Lewis (Vero Beach, Fla.) went 8 for 15 from the field for 23 points, adding four rebounds as well. Khaliq Abdul-Mateen (Cy-Lakes) totaled 10 points and six rebounds, while Alonzo Dodd (St. Paul, Minn.) scored 11 off the bench and KC Ugwuakazi (Boston, Mass.) added eight points and seven rebounds. VJ Reeves Jr. (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) recorded five points as well as seven rebounds.
 
On the HCU end, Bonke Maring scored 23 with seven rebounds, while Jay Alvarez had 21 points with six rebounds, and Michael Imariagbe added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Lions shot 51.6 percent from the field, along with 26 for 28 (92.9 percent) at the line. HCU shot 47 percent from the field and 17 for 25 at the line.

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The Lions end the regular season with a pair of home games, welcoming Lamar at 7 p.m. on Monday and Northwestern State for Senior Day on Monday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for both games can be purchased at LionAthletics.com/Tickets.