Men Fall by Two on the Road

STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Jose Nava led all scorers with 20 points, but the University of Science and Arts came up short in Thursday’s 69-71 loss to Texas A&M-Commerce at the Texan Tip-Off Classic at Tarleton State University.

The Drovers fell to 2-2 on the year and are 1-2 against NCAA Division II opponents. Those two losses were by a total of seven points and came to teams that qualified for the D-II Regional Tournament and were a combined 48-14 last season. TAMUC won the Lone Star Conference South Division with a 28-5 record.

Ironically, Nava’s former team, Midwestern State, finished in second place in the LSC South last season behind TAMUC.

Thursday’s game was tied 10 times and had 14 lead changes. USAO knocked down the shots it had – shooting 49.1 percent from the floor and 44 percent from three-point land, but TAMUC won the turnover battle. The Drovers committed 16 turnovers to only four for the Lions, and TAMUC outscored USAO 17-3 in points off turnovers.

Even though TAMUC shot a very average 39.7 percent from the floor, the team had 10 more attempts from the field and from the free-throw line.

Nava connected on nine-of-11 shots earning his fourth double-double of the season. He grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with his 20 points and added two blocked shots. Avery Stevenson scored 18 points including four three-pointers.

Kevin Thames also scored 10 points while Ike Onwuchekwa added nine points and four boards in 20 minutes of action.

USAO will wrap up its two-game Texas trip at 7 p.m. Friday against Tarleton State.

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