Slow starts haunted the Texas A&M University-Commerce basketball teams Wednesday, resulting in another pair of conference losses, this time to Midwestern State in Wichita Falls.
The A&M-Commerce men dropped a 69-50 decision to the 10th-ranked Mustangs, seeing their losing streak reach five games. The women suffered a 74-58 loss to MSU, and have now dropped 13 consecutive games.
Desmond King and Esteban Arriola each scored 10 points for the Lions (6-12, 1-9 LSC), but it wasn’t enough to overcome a 20-point halftime deficit. Midwestern State (16-1, 9-1 LSC) held the Lions to just five field goals in the first half (5-of-24) and took a 36-16 lead into the break.
Andrew Davis added nine points and Mouhamadou N’doye scored a career-best eight points to go with a pair of blocks.
JaMichael Rivers led all scorers with 18 points and helped the Mustangs push their lead as high as 63-37 with just over five minutes to play.
The Lions finished the night shooting 34 percent (17-of-50) from the floor and hit just 1-of-11 shots from long range.
In the early game, the Lion women (1-16, 0-11 LSC) fell into a 17-point hole at halftime, which helped Midwestern State improve to 14-3 overall and 10-1 in conference play.
The Lions were outrebounded by a slim margin (45-41) and shot 32.4 percent from the floor, compared to just 36.4 percent for the Mustangs. However, the big difference came at the free throw line, where the Mustangs connected on 30-of-42 attempts.
Sophomore Breanna Harris led the Lions with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Danielle Dixon added 12. MSU’s Savannah Carver led all scorers with 20 points.
A&M-Commerce returns home this weekend to host Cameron, which currently holds the No. 3 spot in the men’s and women’s standings.
The action inside The Field House will begin at 6 p.m. with the women’s game, followed by the men at approximately 8 p.m.