26 points for Stewart
A&M Commerce | Basketball
LAREDO – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team picked up a 78-65 win over A&M International on Thursday. The Lions jumped out to a lead early and held it throughout the rest of the game.
The win brings the Lions to 10-4 on the season and 6-2 in the Lone Star Conference. The Dustdevils fall to 2-12 on the season and 0-8 in conference play.
The Lions return to the court on Saturday as they travel to face A&M-Kings-ville. The game will be played at 4 p.m. at the Steinke Center in Kingsville.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Wayne Stewart (Philadelphia, Pa.) led the way with 26 points, going 9-of-13 from the field. He also had six rebounds.
• Deonta Terrell (Chicago, Ill.) added 13 points and had four rebounds and three assists.
• Darnell Wright (Chicago, Ill.) led the team with seven rebounds to go with nine points, while Clarence Evans (Austin - Aggieland Panthers) led the team with six assists.
• The Lions led for all but 28 seconds of the game, leading by as many as 25.
• The Lions caused 21 turnovers, which led to 15 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After giving up the first basket of the game, the Lions then went on a 7-0 run to establish an early lead in the game. The Lions held the Dustdevils without a point for more than six minutes. Three consecutive triples gave the Lions a 16-4 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half.
TAMIU broke its shooting struggles but could not hold down the Lion offense, as the Lions continued to find the basket. TAMIU cut the Lion lead down to nine but going into the half, the Lions led 35-22.
The Dustdevils again cut the Lion lead down to nine points early in the second half, before back-to-back buckets from Stewart brought their lead back up to 13 points. Stewart had seven points in a row as the Lions pushed their lead to 23 points at the 12 minute mark of the second half.
TAMIU cut the Lion lead back down to 15 points after going on a mini run at the eight minute mark. However, it was short-lived as A&M-Commerce again made a push to bring their lead back up to 20 points.
The teams traded baskets for several more minutes before the Dustdevils cut the Lion lead to just 10 points with a minute and a half left. However, the Lions hit their free throws and pulled out the win.