COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team lost 81-69 against No. 4 West Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon. The game was back and forth for the majority before a late run by the Buffaloes put them over the top.
 
The loss brings the Lions to 20-6 on the season and 12-4 in the Lone Star Conference. WT improves to 27-3 and 16-1 in league play.
 
The Lions return to action on Thursday as they play the final two games of the regular season. The Lions head to Odessa to face UT Permian Basin at 7:30 p.m. The game will be played at UTPB Gymnasium.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Four Lions finished in double figures. Senior Willie Rooks (Houston – North Forest) co-led the team with 16 points and also had a double-double with 11 rebounds. He also led the team with five assists.
- Senior Trey Conrod (Kilgore) also had 16 points and pulled in six rebounds.
- Carson Tuttle (Mukilteo, Wash.) had 12 points and four assists. Deonta Terrell (Chicago, Ill.) also scored in double figures with 11 points.
- A 14-0 run by WT late in the second half put the Buffaloes ahead for good in the game.
 
HEAD COACH JARET VON ROSENBERG AFTER THE GAME
- On the team's play: "We did not play very well. Give them credit. But we just didn't execute. We executed defensively a little bit but our offense wasn't good enough to beat a really good team."
- On WT's run in the second half: "I think we did a good job in the half court defensively. We held them under 40 percent in the first half. But they went a little nuts in the second half. We went on a quick spurt of not doing well offensively and they took advantage of it."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was back and forth to begin the game. The lead changed hands three times in the early going. After four minutes of play, the teams were deadlocked at nine. WT pushed its lead to five before the Lions then battled back. Midway through the half, the Lions trailed by two points.
 
WT pushed its lead up again before the Lions hit a pair of triples, one by Conrod and one by Rooks, to regain the lead at the seven-minute mark. The lead changed hands a couple times again down the stretch before a late three by Rooks sent the Lions into halftime with a 36-35 lead.
 
Rooks had a double-double in the first half with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Conrod added eight while Terrell had seven.
 
WT took the lead early in the second half and would not relinquish it the rest of the contest. WT build its lead back up to six twice before the Lions stormed back each time to cut the deficit to just one point. With 13 minutes to play, the Lions trailed 47-46.
 
The Buffs then went on a 14-0 run over the span of two and a half minutes, a run that would prove to put the game too far out of reach for A&M-Commerce. After trailing by 18, the Lions cut the lead to 10 points with three minutes to play but could not get any closer.