Coming in at No. 4 in Division II, the Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions lost a hard fought battle to the Midwestern State University Mustangs (No. 7) 25-26, last Saturday in Memorial Stadium.

The Lions were first on the scoreboard with a 31-yard field goal by kicker Kristov Martinez. The Mustangs then drove the ball 85 yards by using 11 plays off a score from running back Vincent Johnson to give the Mustangs a 7-3 lead.

After several defensive stops from both teams, Lions receiver Darby Smith caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Luis Perez to give the Lions a 9-7 lead due to a miss extra point.

The Lions defense held its own again giving their offense the bad towards the end of the first half. After a few healthy runs by running back Richard Cooper and a 40 yard catch from Smith to set up a 19-yard field goal to give the Lions a 12-7 lead going into halftime.

When the second half was underway, the Mustangs drove down the field and scored a touchdown in just three plays to take a 13-12 lead. However, the Mustangs would try to convert on a two-point conversion, but would ultimately throw an interception to Lions linebacker Garrett Blubaugh. After missed field goals from both teams the score remained 13-12 going into the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Lions gained a 15-13 lead off of a 43-yard field goal by Martinez. The Lions defense would once again get the Mustangs to punt the football and give the team good field position in which the Lions would get to the red zone, but settled for a 21-yard field goal to give the Lions an 18-13 lead.

The following possession, sophomore Danny Huckaby intercepted the football, giving the Lions the football once again. This time, the Lions offense would see the endzone with Smith scoring his second touchdown of the evening to give the Lions a 25-13 lead with a little over five minutes left to go in the game.

The Mustangs would get the ball and would quickly score a touchdown to cut the lead to 25-20 with a little over three minutes left to go in the game. The Lions would get the ball back, but were forced to punt the football and give the ball back to the Mustangs. The Mustangs would again drive down the field and score a touchdown with 28 seconds left in the game to take a 26-25 lead before failing to convert a two-point conversion. The Lions would attempt to get the ball into field goal range, but would be unsuccessful and fall to the Mustangs with final score being 26-25.

Despite the loss, the Lions are still looking at a healthy record at 3-1 in the Lone Star Conference and 5-1 overall. The Lions turn their attention to next game where they travel to play Western New Mexico on Oct. 15. Game time is set to be at noon.