Lions welcome UT Tyler for the weekend set.

COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men’s basketball team returns to action in the Field House this weekend, hosting UT-Tyler for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday. 

WHO: UT Tyler at A&M-Commerce 

WHERE: Commerce | The Field House

WHEN: 7:30 pm on Friday, January 22 | 5:30 pm on Saturday, January 23

RECORDS: A&M-Commerce is 3-3 on the season entering the weekend. UT-Tyler is 2-7.

TELEVISION/LIVE VIDEO: Lone Star Conference Digital Network (Direct Link)

RADIO: Lion Sports Network | KETR-FM 88.9 (Streaming on KETR.org)

LIVE STATS: Click HERE

LIONS WELCOME LOCAL OPPOSITION

• The Lions will host UT Tyler in a cross-over weekend series after picking up a split in divisional action against UAFS.

• TAMUC is coming off of a 77-61 home victory over UAFS on Sunday afternoon.

• The Lions used a hot-shooting first half to build up an insurmountable 16-point halftime lead. A&M-Commerce shot 50 percent (15-of-30) in the first half.

• Demarcus Demonia led A&M-Commerce with 21 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

• Augustine Ene scored 16 points with five rebounds, and Alex Peavy netted 10 points with six boards.

• Devin Bethely passed out six assists. Bethely and Carius Key each swiped four steals.

• The Lions picked up the win in the 100th career game for head coach Jaret von Rosenberg. 

PERIMETER EXCELLENCE

• The Lions’ three-point defense was spectacular in the win over UAFS, as the visitors made only one three-pointer.

• This marked the worst three-point performance by a TAMUC opponent since Cameron made one field goal in the 2017 LSC Tournament.

• The Lions rank second in the LSC in three-point percentage defense, allowing opponents to make only 28.8 percent of long-distance attempts (34-of-118). It ranks 28th nationally. 

DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE!

• The Lions rank third in the LSC and 13th nationally in turnovers forced per game, with opponents turning the ball over 17.3 times per game.

• TAMUC is fourth in the league in field goal percentage defense overall, with opponents making 42.5 percent of their shots.

• The Lions rank third in the LSC in scoring defense, allowing only 71.3 points per game, which would tie for the third-lowest opponent scoring average in school history. 

HITTING THE CENTURY MARK

• Head coach Jaret von Rosenberg coached his 100th game as a collegiate head coach against UAFS in his fifth season.

• Sam Walker is the program leader in games coached at 487 games with a 285-202 record.

• Coach Rose becomes the eighth head coach to coach in 100 games at A&M-Commerce.

Rk	Coach	W	Record
1.	Sam Walker	487	285-202
2.	Jim Gudger	392	202-190
3.	Norman Pilgrim	278	152-126
4.	Paul Peak	252	134-118
5.	Jerry Matthews	225	99-126
6.	Dennis Vinzant	152	92-60
7.	Bob Rogers	147	113-34
8.	Jaret von Rosenberg	100	66-33

BETHELY LEADS LSC EFFICIENCY

• Senior point guard Devin Bethely is the LSC’s leader in assist-to-turnover ratio, dishing out 2.8 assists to every turnover committed.

• This mark ranks 30th in the nation, with Michael Bradley of Mercyhurst averaging 10.0 A/TO in three games.

• Bethely’s 6.0 assists per game rank second in the LSC. Lubbock Christian’s Cameron Copley leads the LSC with 37 assists in six games.

LSC ASSIST/TURNOVER

Rk	Player	School	Ast	TO	A/T
1	Devin Bethely	TAMUC	36	13	2.8
2	Cameron Copley	LCU	37	14	2.6
3	Carson Hughes	DBU	28	11	2.5
4	Pierre Sanders	MSU	37	15	2.5
5	JoJo Murray	WT	33	15	2.2

LSC ASSISTS/GAME

Rk	Player	School	Ast	Gm	APG
1	Cameron Copley	LCU	37	6	6.2
2	Devin Bethely	TAMUC	36	6	6.0
3	Daniel Venzant	SEU	47	8	5.9
4	JoJo Murray	WT	33	6	5.5
5	William Heather	DBU	34	8	4.3

ALL-TIME vs. UT-TYLER

• This is the third all-time meeting between these two teams, with A&M-Commerce holding a 2-0 lead in the series.

• The Lions were 80-69 victors in Tyler in the first-ever meeting.

• A&M-Commerce is 1-0 at home vs. the Patriots with a 77-63 overtime win last February. 

LOOKING AT LION HISTORY

• It is the 27th time the Lions played on January 22, with a 16-10 overall record on this date and a 10-3 home record.

• The Lions’ first game on this date was a 28-26 win at Sam Houston State in 1929.

• The Lions are 1-0 on this date under Coach Rose with a 92-56 win over Dallas Christian in 2018. 

• This is the 22nd time the Lions have played on January 23, with an 11-10 record overall and 4-1 home record.

• The Lions have not played at home on this date since 2008.

• A&M-Commerce is 1-0 on this date under Coach Rose with a 77-73 win at Western New Mexico last season. 

D2SIDA REGIONAL RANKINGS

• The second D2SIDA Regional Rankings of the season has been announced for games through January 17.

• D2SIDA will rank six teams per region this season.

LSC ASSIST/TURNOVER

Rk	Player	School	Ast	TO	A/T
1	Devin Bethely	TAMUC	36	13	2.8
2	Cameron Copley	LCU	37	14	2.6
3	Carson Hughes	DBU	28	11	2.5
4	Pierre Sanders	MSU	37	15	2.5
5	JoJo Murray	WT	33	15	2.2

LSC ASSISTS/GAME

Rk	Player	School	Ast	Gm	APG
1	Cameron Copley	LCU	37	6	6.2
2	Devin Bethely	TAMUC	36	6	6.0
3	Daniel Venzant	SEU	47	8	5.9
4	JoJo Murray	WT	33	6	5.5
5	William Heather	DBU	34	8	4.3

Lion women’s basketball vs. UT Tyler on Friday & Saturday postponed

COMMERCE – Texas A&M University-Commerce has announced that they postponed the women’s basketball games scheduled for this Friday and Saturday vs. UT-Tyler due to concerns related to CoVID-19.

The Lions and Patriots will look to re-schedule the games at a later date. A&M-Commerce’s next women’s basketball games are January 30 and 31 at Angelo State.

The A&M-Commerce/UT Tyler men’s basketball games are still on as scheduled, with their original tipoff times of 7:30 p.m. Friday and 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Commerce. 

Stay tuned to LionAthletics.com and our social media channels for updates on schedules throughout the season.

Lion softball selected No. 3 in the LSC preseason poll.

RICHARDSON – The Lone Star Conference announced the preseason poll for the 2021 softball season Thursday, and they picked the Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team to finish third with 538 total points and five first-place votes. 

The Lions finished an abbreviated 2020 campaign with a 16-7 record and a 5-3 mark in the LSC. A&M-Commerce tallied wins against nationally-ranked foes such as No. 7 Central Oklahoma, No. 23 Arkansas Tech, a doubleheader sweep of No. 15 Rogers State, and No. 18 Oklahoma Christian.

Through 23 games, the Lions ranked atop the conference standings with a team earned run average of 1.9, an LSC-leading 171 strikeouts, and a .182 opponent batting average. 

A&M-Commerce hosts the 2021 Lion Invitational to start the season, with Arkansas Tech and Texas A&M International visiting the John Cain Family Softball Complex. The Lions’ first pitch will be Friday, February 5, at 12:30 pm against Arkansas Tech.

“We were disappointed with the end of the season because we had just started playing our style of softball,” said head coach Richie Bruister. “We had some really good games early and lost some close games, but the offense really picked us up that last week. We were clicking on all cylinders and were headed down to St. Edward’s, and we got the call and had to turn around and come back home. So it left an empty feeling for those players. It was a tough time for them. Five of the seven seniors came back. I am very excited for them, and they are very excited as well to have the opportunity to get back on the field and finish right where we left off.”

Oklahoma Christian received 22 of the 42 first-place votes for a total of 619 points in the poll. The Eagles were 21-5 overall and 6-2 in league play in 2020 when they halted the softball season due to COVID-19.

UT-Tyler finished second in the poll with four first-place nods for 548 points. The Patriots had a 17-3 overall and 5-3 mark in league play when the season ended.

Angelo State’s Courtney Barnhill and Texas A&M International’s Briana Arredondo shared LSC Preseason Player of the Year honors, while OC’s Kali Crandall captured LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year acclaim.

The 2021 LSC season starts January 29 with 16 teams playing a single round-robin schedule with two games against each league opponent. The LSC Champion will be the team(s) with the best winning percentage in regular-season conference games.

The single-elimination LSC Championship featuring the top 10 teams will be played May 6-7-8, at the No. 1 seed. The postseason championship winner will be recognized as LSC Tournament Champion and receive the league’s automatic qualification into the NCAA postseason.

2020-21 Lone Star Conference Softball Preseason Poll

RANK	TEAM	1st	TOTAL
1	Oklahoma Christian	22	619
2	UT Tyler	4	548
3	A&M-COMMERCE	5	538
4	Angelo State	3	535
5	Texas A&M-Kingsville	6	533
6	Lubbock Christian	1	501
7	West Texas A&M		444
8	Cameron		375
9	St. Mary’s		311
10	Eastern New Mexico	1	276
11	St. Edward’s		265
12	UT Permian Basin		213
13	Texas Woman’s		161
14	Midwestern State		143
	Texas A&M International		143
16	Western New Mexico		107