By: Drew Ivery | Co-Editor/Sports Editor

The No. 8 seed Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions brought home a 77-73 win on Tuesday against the No. 9 seed University Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions in the first round of the Lone Star Conference Tournament.

After a hot start from Brian Halums of UAFS, who railed off 14 points in the opening twelve minutes, was without a field goal for a 15:04 span that began with 8:33 remaining in the first half. If the Lions stood a chance in this game, they knew they had to make things much harder for Halums who was averaging 41 points per game against the Lions in their two games prior. Halums entered the game as the second leading scorer in NCAA Division II with 28.8 points per game.

Halums still finished with 29 points on 50 percent shooting, but that fifteen minute drought of no field goal made played a major factor.

A&M-Commerce shot a blistering 65 percent from the field in the second half of the game to propel them to victory.

Wayne Stewart led the Lions with 21 points, followed up by three other Lions in double digits. Alberto Moreno added 19 points, along with a career-high and team leading 7 rebounds to go along with four assists. Deonta Terrell posted 15 points himself and Darnell Wright added 10 points.

Next Matchup

With the victory, the Lions advance to the Quarterfinal round of the LSC Tournament to play West Texas A&M on Friday night at 6 p.m. This will be the third straight meeting between the two teams in the LSC tournament, where Commerce is 0-2 against WT. The game came be heard on 88.9 FM KETR or viewed via live television broadcast and streaming online video. For more information on the broadcast, visit https://lonestarconference.org/news/2020/3/4/mens-basketball-lone-star-conference-basketball-championship-to-be-broadcast-on-live-television-with-nexstar-broadcasting.aspx