Commerce, Texas

After seeing Kanani Marshal of the women's team hit 10 three pointers in the first game of the home-opening doubleheader, the Texas A&M-Commerce men's team proved its capable of hitting the three-point shot as junior guard Kevin Widemond hit seven three pointers to lead the Lions to an 85-60 win over Paul Quinn on Wednesday night in the season opener.

The seven three pointers by Widemond were one shy of the men's school record of eight that is held by Jeff Lampkin. The junior from Newark, N.J. ended the contest with a game-high 23 points to lead three Lions in double figures, including senior Lamar Searight scored 14 off the bench and senior Archie Beason chipped in 13. Also, off the bench, junior Champ Sylvester scored eight points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out six assists.

Led by a 20-point, 10-rebound effort from Cedric Brooks, the Tigers also had three players in double figures. Damien Chisholm poured in 12 and Tyrone Edwards added 10.

The 25 point-win is the most by in a season-opening game by the Lions since a Jerry Matthews squad in 1987-88 defeated Tarleton State by 27, 98-71. Additionally, the Lions outscored Paul Quinn, 33-12 in points off turnovers and 25-10 in second-chance.

Hyped up for the first game of the year, Texas A&M-Commerce raced out to a 12-2 advantage in the opening 3:36 of the contest. Junior guard Leonard Bishop hit two three pointers and Widemond opened up the season with his first of seven three pointers to spark the Lions.

Paul Quinn managed to reduce the A&M-Commerce deficit to six, 21-15, with 13:07 left in the opening 20 minutes. The Lions came back with a 11-2 run to take a 32-17 lead as the advantage would be double digits for the remainder of the half.

In the second half, the Tigers got as close as seven on a three pointer to start the second 20 minutes, cutting the A&M-Commerce lead to 42-35. The Lions continued to use an inside-outside game, scoring 20 points in the paint and Widemond made four more three pointers as they shot 51.4% from the field en route to the win.

The schedule gets tougher for the Lions as they travel to Stephenville, Texas on Friday and Saturday for the Tarleton State Classic, where they will face No. 10 Findlay on Friday night and California State University at Chico on Saturday.