Lions unable to hold onto a second-half lead in 80-69 loss at No. 15 DBU

DALLAS – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men’s basketball team fought back from a first-half deficit to take the lead over 15th-ranked Dallas Baptist University early in the second half, but the Lions were unable to hold on, falling 80-69. 

The Lions are now 5-5 overall and 4-4 in the Lone Star Conference, while DBU is 12-2 overall and in the league.

A&M-Commerce will return home for a pair of games against long-time LSC rival Texas A&M-Kingsville next Friday and Saturday. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

– Augustine Ene (Carrollton – Creekview) and Alex Peavy (Smithson Valley) tied for the team scoring lead with 14 points apiece. Ene also added six rebounds.

– Dante Adams (Osceola, Ark.) scored 13 points with eight rebounds.

– Leo Lara (Santa Rosa) added 12 points.

– The Lions shot 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the field with nine three-pointers.

– A&M-Commerce’s perimeter defense was excellent again, allowing DBU to hit only four-of-17 three-pointers (23.5 percent). Unfortunately for TAMUC, DBU excelled inside for a 57.1 percent overall shooting percentage (32-of-56). 

HOW IT HAPPENED

A Carius Key (Irving – MacArthur) dunk on the opening possession, and Ene three-pointer gave the Lions an early 5-2 lead, but A&M-Commerce went over three minutes without a basket while DBU went 4-of-5 from the field to flip that lead. After a Peavy three-pointer stemmed that rally, the Patriots scored nine straight to go ahead 19-8 with 12:22 left in half.

 

Three minutes later, DBU had extended that lead to 16 points at 27-11 for the contest’s largest lead. The Lions began to chip away at the lead in the final eight minutes of the half. Lara scored six, and Peavy had a pair of three-pointers as A&M-Commerce closed the half on a 22-9 run in the final eight and a half minutes. Peavy’s late three-pointer made it a 38-35 game at halftime.

 

The Lions started the second half on a hot shooting streak, making four of their first five field-goal attempts. Adams’ fastbreak three-pointer with 16:57 gave A&M-Commerce a 46-42 lead. Unfortunately, that momentum fizzled out, as the Lions made only two of their next ten attempts. With 10 minutes to play, the Lions were still in striking distance, with DBU ahead by a 57-52 count after a Carson Tuttle (Mukilteo, Wash.) jumper.

 

A&M-Commerce’s shooting woes continued down the stretch, and DBU repeatedly connected on interior shots. The Lions made one field goal in eight minutes, allowing the Patriots to push out to a 16-point lead before Adams’ three-pointer snapped the skid at the 2:10 mark. The Lions were able to get the margin down to nine points in the final minute on a Riley McIntyre (Austin – Bowie) three-pointer, but the mid-half cold streak was too much to overcome.d

The No. 9 Lions split the final day of Lion Invitational, beating TAMIU 6-0 in the opener.

COMMERCE – The No. 9 Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team closed out the Lion Invitational Saturday with a split, defeating Texas A&M International and falling to Arkansas Tech. 

The Lions were 6-0 winners over TAMIU, then lost 4-1 to ATU.

A&M-Commerce is 3-1 overall after the opening weekend and scheduled to co-host the Irwin Classic with UT Tyler next weekend. 

HEAD COACH RICHIE BRUISTER AFTER THE GAMES 

A&M-COMMERCE 6, A&M INTERNATIONAL 0

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

– Alyssa LeBlanc (Katy) pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only four hits while striking out seven and walking one to move to 3-0 on the season.

– Madison Schaefer (Frisco – Independence), Kinsie Hebler (Cy-Fair), and Samantha Dutton (Tulsa, Okla.) each collected two hits in the game.

– Hebler and Ta’Lyn Moody (Mansfield – Legacy) each hit two-run home runs, while Schaefer had a two-run double. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Hebler got the Lion scoring started in the first inning, crushing a two-run homer to left-center. The Lion lead extended to 4-0 in the second. Chealsea Slider (Texarkana – Texas High) led off with an infield single, followed by an Uxua Modrego (Burlada, Spain) single to center. After a double steal, Schaefer hit a high-soaring ball to the left, which the Dustdevil outfielder couldn’t handle, bringing two runs home with the double. 

Moody extended the lead in the sixth inning with her first career homer, slapping a round-tripper to right field after Dutton’s leadoff single. 

TAMIU never truly challenged the Lions. Dustdevils never reached scoring until the seventh inning, where LeBlanc earned a three-pitch strikeout and induced a game-ending flyout for her second shutout of the year. 

ARKANSAS TECH 4, A&M-COMMERCE 1

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

– Schaefer, Kuea Angilau (Salt Lake City, Utah), Slider, Modrego, Dutton, and Moody had singles in the game, as no Lion had an extra-base hit.

– The Lions stranded ten runners on base in the contest.

– Emily Otto (Lamar Consolidated, 0-1) was tagged with the loss, allowing one earned run on two hits and a walk, striking out three but hitting three batters in 2.1 innings.

 

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Golden Suns took the lead in the first on a Paty Loredo RBI single after a hit batter and a walk earlier in the inning. The Lions had runners in scoring position in the bottom of the inning after a pair of walks and a wild pitch but could not bring the runs home.

A&M-Commerce would not put a runner in scoring position until the sixth inning, while Tech scored single runs in the third, fourth, and sixth innings to go up 4-0. 

The Lions rallied in the bottom of the seventh when Moody led off with a single, Schaefer walked, and Angilau drove home a run with a laser single off the right-center wall. Hebler drew a walk to load the bases and bring the winning run to the plate with none out, but a double play and a ground out snuffed out the rally late.