COMMERCE – Mo Lee and TaShawn Mabry combined for 48 points Saturday night as the No. 12 Tarleton State Texans (18-2, 5-2) topped No. 25 Texas A&M-Commerce in a battle of conference and national powers.
 
This was the first-ever meeting between Tarleton and Texas A&M-Commerce as ranked opponents and the first time since the 2005 NCAA South Central Regional championship that Tarleton and Commerce tangled while the Lions held a top-25 ranking. Just like that March night in 2005, Tarleton State came out on top in the Field House.
 
Mo Lee and TaShawn Mabry got the scoring started for Tarleton State when the seniors connected for a second-chance tip-in and a layup within the first minute to get the Texans off to a 4-0 lead. After Commerce got on the board, Mabry extended the advantage to 7-2 with a 3-pointer at 18:01.
 
After Tarleton maintained its five-point advantage through 10-5, the Lions struck for 12 unanswered points to take a 17-10 lead and force the Texans to play from behind over the rest of the opening half.
 
Mabry put a stop to the scoreless run with his second triple of the night off a pass from Lee to bring Tarleton back to four at 13-17. After a Lion basket, Mabry drew the foul on another triple try and connected on all three free throws to bring the Texans within one possession at 16-19.
 
Over the rest of the half, Tarleton pulled within three on three different occasions and trailed by as many as eight before a Mabry jumper with 1:21 left sent the Texans into halftime trailing 29-35.
 
Out of the break, it was the senior duo for Tarleton who rose to the occasion and brought the game back even at 35-35 after just 1:22 of second-half action. Mabry drilled a long ball just 11 seconds into the new half before Lee hit a layup and Mabry hit a free throw to knot the score.
 
Commerce maintained its advantage – from as many as eight to as few as one – over the next eight minutes before Lee sank a step-back 3-pointer over the head of the Lion defender to give the Texans its first lead of the second half at 51-50. After a Davene Carter dunk and Commerce 3-ball evened things up again, Damion Clemons knocked down a trey to give the Texans a 56-53 advantage at the eight-minute media timeout.
 
The teams combined for just three points over the, very physical, next three minutes of action as the Texans clung to a 57-55 lead before Mabry drilled a jumper that started a 12-6 Tarleton push that was capped off by a Mabry triple over the contest arm of the Lions to put Tarleton on top 69-61 with two minutes to go.
 
Tarleton State went 8-10 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes to seal win No. 18 on the season with the 77-73 win.
 
Lee and Mabry each poured in 24 points, which was a career high for Lee, while Malcolm Hamilton and Damion Clemons each accounted for seven points and Davene Carter and Michael Hardge added five each. Nosa Ebomwonyi (3) and EJ Reed (2) rounded out the Tarleton scoring.
 
As a team, the Texans shot 47 percent from the field and 38 percent from downtown. Tarleton won the rebounding battle 35-25, including 12-7 on the offensive end and 23-18 on the defensive boards against the Lions who entered the game ranked No. 6 in the nation in defensive rebounds.
 
Tarleton State will now turn its attention to a Wednesday night showdown in Wichita Falls against Midwestern State at 7:30 p.m. at D.L. Ligon Colliseum.