Men's basketball team wins season opener

The A&M-Commerce men's basketball team won 89-81 in their first game of the season against the East Texas Baptist University Tigers on Saturday, Nov. 13.

The Lions started the first half down, but quickly tied the game at 5-5 and then proceeded to take the lead. They were able to maintain the lead throughout the first half and led by as many as seventeen.

A&M-Commerce limited second-chance points and was able to convert numerous Tiger turnovers for points in transition. The Lions ran a man-to-man defense and forced thirteen turnovers in the first half.

Their defensive effort allowed them to capitalize on Tiger turnovers, giving several opportunities for layups and points in the paint. In the first half, Preston Whitley and Desmond King scored a combined total of seventeen points in the paint to add to the Lions' lead.

The Lions shot 5 for 5 at the free throw line during the first half and out-rebounded the Tigers 22-17. At the end of the first half, King threw down a two-handed dunk, giving A&M-Commerce momentum as they went into the locker room up 42-26.

The Lions came out shooting in the second half, starting with a three pointer early on. The scoring became one-sided as the Lions went up by more than 20 points and kept the pressure on defensively by switching back and forth between a full-court man press and half-court man defense.

The Lions were led by Brian Singleton with 15 points and King with 16 points. Singleton was happy with the game's outcome.

"It felt good to get our first win," Singleton said. "We were putting what we practiced to work."

Despite holding a large lead in the second half, the Lions were plagued with foul calls, allowing the Tigers to get to the line a total of 35 times, 28 of which the Tigers scored their free throw shots. This enabled ETBU to get back in the game late in the second half and cut the Lions' lead to within four points.

Whitley, who had 13 points and 7 rebounds, said he thought the team could have done better.

"I felt like we could've been better on the defensive end," he said. "We were letting them penetrate and we didn't keep our intensity as high in the second half."

However, the Lions held firm and pulled out with a victory for the first game of the season, shooting 50 percent from field goal range and 31 percent from outside of the three.

While the team and fans were satisfied with the win, Head Coach Sam Walker still thought there was a lot of room for improvement.

"I'm frustrated," Walker said. "I'm happy that we won, but they were a team that we should have beaten by 20 or 25."

Walker's main concern was the fact that the Lions were unable to prevent the Tigers from making a run late in the second half, despite controlling the lead for the entirety of the game.

"I feel like we didn't have the attention to detail that we had in the first half," he said. "We didn't respect them, so they were able to do whatever they wanted."

A&M-Commerce plays another home game against St. Edward's on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 7:00 p.m.