Men’s Basketball
Senior Ronnie Morgan had the first double double of his career, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, to lead Texas A&M University-Commerce to a 73-60 win over host St. Edward’s in the season opener on Sunday afternoon in Austin at the 2009 St. Edward’s Shootout.
A&M-Commerce (1-0) won its season opener for the first time since the 2006-07 campaign. Joining Morgan in double figures was junior newcomer Brian Singleton, who had 10 points and a game-high seven assists in his A&M-Commerce debut. The Lions shot 48.1 per cent from the field and forced SEU to turn the ball over 19 times in the win. Newcomers Justin Wilkerson and Kevin Hayden also made impacts in their A&M-Commerce debuts. Wilkerson scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds and Hayden scored seven points for the Lions St. Edward’s (0-1) landed four of its five starters in double figures including Jeff Miner, who had a team-best 14 points. Also for the Hilltoppers, Bobby Watkins scored 13, Patrick Barnes added 11 and Reggie Shanks chipped in 10. A jumper by Kevin Hayden gave the Lions a 6-4 advantage with 14:43 to go in the opening half. A&M-Commerce held the lead until a 14-0 run early in the second half by SEU put the host Hilltoppers in front by a 40-37 with 13:49 to go in the contest. A&M-Commerce managed to tie it at 47 on a Brad Hambrick three pointer – his only one of the contest – with 10:31 remaining. A jumper by Sammy Jackson and a layup by Hambrick gave the Lions a four-point lead and they would not relinquish it down the stretch for the win. The Lions are back in action on Friday, Nov. 27 at 7:30 pm when they take on St. Mary’s University in their first game of the St. Mary’s tournament.
Volleyball
The Texas A&M University-Commerce saw one of its most successful seasons in school history come to a close in a 25-15, 25-11, 25-14 loss to host West Texas A&M in the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament on Friday, Nov. 13.
The No. 7 Lady Buffs (33-3) hit at a .374 clip in the win and were led by Melissa Harper, who had 12 kills. Katie Rickwartz added 31 assists and Lauren Beville and Lauren Thedford had 12 and 11 digs, respectively.
A&M-Commerce (25-10) junior Naomi Mays had a team-high 10 kills and the attack was held to a .077 hitting percentage. The .077 hitting percentage was the third lowest of the season for the Lions.
The match marked the end of the careers for seniors Amy Addison, Perla Faudoa, Lauren Flynn and Alyssa Oberle.
West Texas A&M went on to win the LSC tournament the following Saturday, beating Abilene Christian University 3 games to 1 in the final.