COMMERCE, Texas – The Eastern New Mexico men's basketball team lost its first game in the month of February by a final score of 87-78 on the road against Texas A&M-Commerce.

Eastern (12-12, 9-7 LSC) and Commerce (20-5, 12-3 LSC) entered Thursday night's contest with two of the three longest win streaks in the Lone Star Conference and had a tight ball game going into the halftime break with the Lions ahead just 45-39. Eastern New Mexico couldn't keep pace with Texas A&M-Commerce in the second half, trailing by as many as 24 with 10:04 remaining in the game.

The Hounds fought back and narrowed the margin to just 84-74 with 1:01 remaining on the clock, but couldn't force the turnovers and missed free throws required to get back in the game in the final minute of action. Texas A&M-Commerce found the difference in the second half with six made three-pointers, pushing their total to 13 in the game for a final percentage of 44.8 percent (13-of-29).

Eastern on the other hand converted on just 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) from long range and couldn't find a way to slow down the Lion offense in the second half. Sophomore Devin Pullum led the charge back for the Hounds in the closing minutes of the final half, scoring 13 points in the second to bring his final game total to a team-high 19 points.

Senior Isaiah Murphy served as the offensive spark in a closely-contested first half between the two squads, scoring 10 points in the opening half to keep the score tight at 39-38 with the Hounds ahead with 1:33 left in the opening half. Consecutive three pointers and a made free throw by the Lions in the final minute and a half of the period brought the halftime difference to 45-39.

Eastern managed to draw the deficit down to just 50-45 at the 17:32 mark coming out of the halftime break, but conceded 10 straight points to the Lions to break the game open with just over 15 minutes remaining. Commerce continued to roll throughout the midway portions of the second half and then survived a late rally from Pullum and the Hounds to complete the series sweep of Eastern New Mexico.

Pullum and Murphy were joined by seniors Arcaim Lallemand and Zach Parker as the four Hounds in double-digit scoring figures on the night, while Lallemand narrowly missed out on double-digit scoring numbers with 11 points and a team high nine rebounds. Eastern New Mexico shot 48.4 percent (30-of-62) for the game, but couldn't match the Lion's output of three-point makes in the second half to get back into the game.

Eastern New Mexico remains in fourth place in the Lone Star Conference standings and will take on Tarleton State on Saturday afternoon in Stephenville, Texas at 4 p.m., a squad that will enter the contest just one game behind the Hounds in the conference standings.