MSU pulls away from Lions in second half, 64-52

It was a disappointing night for the A&M-Commerce men's basketball team after making a run at the end of the regular season to clinch the last seed in the Lone Star Conference tournament. The Lions held their own against top seed Midwestern State in the Lone Star Conference quarterfinal round at the Allen Event Center on Wednesday, but fell short of advancing, 64-52.

The Lions (10-17 overall, 5-14 LSC) came out in a stingy zone defense, holding the Mustangs without a field goal until the 14:25 mark in the first half. It was a defensive battle back and forth between the two teams causing a low-scoring first half. After a stagnant start, Midwestern State was able to take control of the tempo and dominated defensively.

Both teams struggled shooting the ball from the field in the opening half with the Lions shooting 28 percent (7-of-25) and the Mustangs even worse at 23 percent. In the final two minutes of the first half, the Lions were able to put together a 7-0 run, and went into the break with a 26-19 advantage.

In the first minutes of the second half, Midwestern State responded and cut the lead down to four points. With just over nine minutes left in the second half, Midwestern State made another adjustment and was able to take a 7-point advantage.

As they've done all year, the Mustang defense kept the Lions at bay and dominated throughout the second half. The 3-point shot began to come alive for Rivers and senior guard Michael Loyd as they combined for five 3-pointers and finished the game in double figures for the Mustangs.

After a rough shooting first half for the Lions, it didn't get much better in the second half but they were able to hold MSU's lead to single digits. With 5:30 left in the game, the Mustangs bumped their lead to 11 points.

From that point on it seemed like it was a downfall for the Lions. Preston Whitley and Devondrick Walker both fouled out with a little over three minutes remaining in the half. The Mustangs converted field goals on two consecutive trips down the floor bumping their lead back to double digits.

After multiple defensive stops and conversion of free throws, the Mustangs were able to dribble out the clock and put the Lions away to secure a first-round victory.

The Lions finished the night shooting just 25 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from the foul line. Hambrick led the Lions with 18 points, while freshman guard Quince Jackson had 12 points with five rebounds and Whitley added 10 points.

Preseason LSC Player of the Year Desmond King finished 0-of-13 from the field and had only two points.