Lions suffer loss vs. Houston Christian

COMMERCE — The Texas A&M University- Commerce men's basketball game had a twopoint lead on Saturday in the Field House with three minutes left, but the Lions were held without a point the rest of the way as Houston Christian picked up a 69-65 win in the Field House.

The two teams combined to miss their first eight shots of the game. The Lions missed their first five shots of the game, until a layup by Kalen Williams at the 16:25 mark of the first half. Houston Christian had a slow start to the game as well, shooting 2 for 8 from the field to start the game.

After starting the game shooting 0 for 5, A&M-Commerce made four of its next six, including six points from Williams, to take a 9-5 lead as the Huskies went scoreless for nearly 2 minutes and 34 seconds and used their first timeout.

James 'Pop' Weathers started the game shooting 2 for 2 from deep as the Lions went on a 13-2 run over a four-minute stretch to lead 15-7. The Lions went on a scoring drought of 2 minutes and 15 seconds, which allowed the Huskies to cut the deficit down to 18-15.

Williams scored 13 of the first 27 points for the Lions, who ended the half making five of their last seven shots to lead 34-30 at halftime. Williams shot 7 for 9 in the first half, which included a stretch in which he was 7 for 7, for 15 points in the first half. The Lions shot 45 percent in the first half, while the Huskies shot 38 percent.

The Huskies scored the first seven points of the second half, to take their first lead since it was 5-2 in the first half at the 16:06 mark of the first half. The lead was exchanged seven times in the second half, while there was just one lead change in the first half.

The Lions led 65-63 with three minutes left in the game, but did not score for the rest of the game. HCU scored the final six points to win its first conference game of the season.

Williams led the way for the Lions with 28 points, Kwo Agwa added 12 points off the bench, shooting 5 for 8 from the field. Alonzo Dodd has team-high seven rebounds, while Williams led the team with four assists as well.

For the Huskies, Jay Alvarez scored 24 points, while Bonke Maring and Marcus Greene scored 18 points each. Maring added 15 rebounds as well. The Huskies shot 58% in the second half.

The Lions have lost four in a row, falling to 6-10 overall and 0-3 in Southland Conference play. The Huskies are now 3-11 on the season and 1-2 in conference play. This is the first 0-3 start to conference play for the Lions since 2011-12.

The Lions' game on Monday against UIW has been postponed, and they are back in action next Saturday at Southeastern, with tip-off scheduled for 3:30 p.m.