SILVER CITY, N.M. – Ten players scored at least four points and the team connected on 50 percent shooting to lead Texas A&M-Commerce to the 91-63 win over the Western New Mexico University men's basketball team Saturday night in Lone Star Conference action.
No matter where you looked or who had the ball, everyone on the floor seemed to be dangerous for the Lions (9-1, 3-1 LSC). Trey Seymore led the way with 14 points, as he pumped in nine points before many had sat down for the game. Malik Albert and Isaac Asrat added 13 points, while De'Andre Carson reached double-figures with 11 points. Not only did several players have an impact, everyone could shoot as Texas A&M-Commerce made 29-58 (50) from the field, 9-21 (43) from three and went just 24-38 (63) at the foul line. The first half the Lions connected on 16-28 (57) to lead by 24 at the break.
WNMU (1-8, 0-4 LSC) tried to answer the buzz saw with freshman
Eddie Giron (Monterrey, Mexico/Harmony Science Academy) leading all-scorers with 16 points on 6-8 shooting. He also had two steals and two rebounds. Sophomore
Jordan Enriquez (El Paso, TX/Bel Air ) added 14 points on 3-8 shooting and a 7-12 effort at the charity stripe. Senior
Emery Range (Grand Rapids, MI/Willow Canyon) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and sophomore
Josey Mills (Alamogordo, NM/Alamogordo) tallied the only block, along with four points and three rebounds. Shooting was tough again for the Mustangs as they made 20-59 (34), 8-25 (32) from three and 15-22 (68) at the foul line.
The Lions ended up leading the whole way, but the Mustangs were able to fight back twice to knot the score. TAMC sunk the first seven points of the game and following a layup by Giron, a 5-0 burst by Seymore had the lead quickly at 10, 12-2, just over three minutes into the contest.
The Mustangs regrouped and found their groove on offense with Giron dialing long distance to help ignite a 10-0 run to tie the game. Sophomore
Willie McCray (Clovis, NM/Clovis/Westwind Prep Academy ) added two from the foul line and after Giron stepped back for another long ball, Enriquez closed the run with two from the foul line.
TAMC regained the lead on the next trip down the floor, just to watch junior
Latrell Spivey (Phoenix, AZ/Westview) follow-up his own miss with a tip-in at the 13:05 mark to tie the game for what would turn out to be the last time at 14.
The Lions used a 9-0 run to push the lead to 23-14 near the midway point of the first half. WNMU kept fighting, as an Enriquez three at the 8:41 mark left the deficit at just six. From that point on, it was just too much Lions as they capped the final eight minutes on a 24-6 run to take a 49-25 lead into halftime.
If their hot shooting wasn't enough, the Lions utilized a big advantage on fastbreak points (18-0), points in the paint (36-22), points off turnovers (21-7) and bench (39-20). Despite losing the rebounding battle (43-36), WNMU held the edge on second-chance points (12-10).
WNMU shot better in the second half, making 13-35 (37) from the field. While the shoots were going in, the Mustangs weren't able to chip into the lead much. Giron connected on a pair of free throws after a three-ball by freshman
Alex Gonzalez Alvarez (Madrid, Spain/Xperia Zentro San Jorge) to trim the lead down to 21 near the midway point of the half.
Baskets by redshirt freshman
Trevin Ramirez (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) and freshman
Tyshaun Copper (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Collegiate Prep School) had the lead at 21 before the Lions closed the game on a 9-2 run to take the victory.
WNMU will hit the road this coming week playing a pair of non-conference games. They will face Benedictine University at Mesa on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m., before going against Arizona Christian on Wednesday night, also at 7:30 p.m.