In a game full of scoring runs, Texas A&M-Commerce made the last one count.
Leading by two points with eight minutes to play against UTPB, the visiting Lions quickly extended the margin to seven for some breathing room en route to an 89-81 victory in Lone Star Conference play Saturda at the Falcon Dome.
The victory gave Texas A&M-Commerce (17-7 overall, 9-6 in conference) the fifth seed in the Lone Star Conference Tournament and it will host Texas A&M-Kingsville in the first round Tuesday.
The Falcons (16-12, 8-8) finished as the 10th seed and will travel to face Angelo State on Tuesday at the Junell Center in San Angelo.
Demarcus Demonia scored 17 points to lead five Lions in double figures.
Alphonso Willis scored 14 points, Carson Tuttle finished with 13, Jairus Roberson had 12 and Rodney Brown added 10 to the victory.
Miles Daniels led UTPB with a game-high 29, with Lemmie Howard adding 20, DaJuan Jones 11 and Jordan Horn 10 in the loss.
Texas A&M-Commerce opened the game on an 11-2 run thanks to a trio of 3-pointers, including two by Tuttle.
The Lions eventually pushed their lead to 11 points (22-11) before the Falcons clawed their way back into the game.
Howard scored back-to-back field goals before Brown converted a layup for the Lions.
Howard then added an emphatic dunk, followed by a 3-pointer by Kendal Frey to cut the Texas A&M-Commerce lead to four (24-20).
From that point, the teams would trade baskets the final nine minutes of the first half, with Howard closing out first 20 minutes with another layup that tied the score, 36-36, at the break.
UTPB looked to take control of the to start the second half from long distance.
Jones open the final 20 minutes of the regular season with a 3-pointer from the left wing.
Following a basket by the Lions, Horn connected on a 3-pointer from the right corner to give UTPB a 42-38 lead.
Demonia drive the baseline for a layup for Commerce and then Daniels connected on a 3-pointer from the right wing and then hit a second one from the left corner on the Falcons’ next possession.
Commerce was answering, however, at the other end and connected on five straight 3-pointers to take a 55-52 lead with 13:11 remaining to play.
Although the Falcons would tie the game, 57-57, on another Horn 3-pointer, they would never lead again as the Lions slowly pulled away, converting 14 of 15 free throws down the stretch as UTPB was forced to foul.
>> Follow Lee Scheide on Twitter at @OALeeScheide
