RICHARDSON, Texas – The Aggie men's basketball team lost a defensive battle to Texas A&M-Commerce in the first round of the Lone Star Conference Tournament, in a game where they struggled shooting from the perimeter and the free throw line. CU finishes the season 17-12.

The loss breaks a streak of two straight seasons where Cameron makes it to the tournament semifinals. The program is now 5-13 overall in the tournament.

The first half was low scoring from the start, as both teams went back-and-forth through the first 10 minutes, with CU on top 9-7 halfway through the half. The two combined to go 0-16 from three before DeAndre Carson hit a three with five minutes left to put the Lions up by one, 14-13. Three straight buckets allowed the Ags to retake the lead and go up 19-14 with just over two minutes left in the half. Commerce closed the half on a 5-2 run, as Cameron led 21-19 going into the break.

CU was 10-31 from the field in the first 20 minutes of play, but failed to make any of their 11 shots from deep and went just 1-3 from the charity stripe. What they lacked in the offensive game, they made up for on defense, holding the Lions to just 24.1 percent shooting from the field and 10 percent from the perimeter in the first half.

Trey Hall and JV Long led CU with four points and a combined nine rebounds at the break, while Malik Albert from TAMUC had eight points and seven rebounds.

Texas A&M-Commerce came out firing in the second half and got a pair of threes and four free throws to take a 29-28 lead into the first media timeout. A pair of Hall buckets put the Aggies back up 32-29 at the 13:30 mark. The teams traded buckets throughout the next five minutes, with Cameron having a one point lead with just under eight minutes to play. The Lions then went on a 7-0 run to take their largest lead of the game so far at six points. Another Hall bucket and a Jalen Nicholas fastbreak slam cut the lead back to two points with 4:28 left in the second half.

The game went scoreless for the next three minutes until Nicholas hit a shot from the corner to tie the game at 48. Commerce answered with a three pointer to go back up by three, but CU came right back and Stacey Lambert cut the deficit to just one with 53 seconds left. Albert then walked the ball down the court and dribbled around to take time off the clock before driving to the basket to give the Lions a 53-50 lead with 24 tics left on the clock. After a missed Hall three, Cameron was forced to foul and Trey Seymore put the game away with TAMUC's 13th straight made free throw. Nicholas responded with a last second tip-in, but it would not make a difference as CU fell 54-52.

While as a team Cameron shot a decent 42.1 percent from the field, they struggled where it mattered most, going 0-11 from three and 3-11 from the free throw line. Hall finished with a team high 12 points, while Long had six points, 10 rebounds, and three assists.

Texas A&M-Commerce's second half free throws made a big difference in the game, as they went 13-14 from the line in the second half and 17-23 for the game. They shot just 30.8 percent from the field and went 5-22 from the perimeter. Albert finished with a game-high 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds.

The Lions are now 19-9 on the season and will face UT Permian Basin in a LSC semifinal tomorrow night.