Box Score STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The St. Edward's men's basketball team dropped its second-straight contest as it fell to Texas A&M-Commerce, 96-87, on the final night of the Texan Tip-off Classic at Wisdom Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
 
Texas A&M-Commerce (4-0) opened the game on a 12-5 run keyed by Ladon Carnegie who had seven points during the opening stanza.
 
St. Edward's (2-2) got a jumper from JAMES STUKES at the 14:38 mark of the first half, and then the Hilltoppers hit three-straight treys to take a 16-14 lead with 13 minutes left. JOHN RUTHERFORD had one triple and JOHN GRAMLICH provided the other two. Gramlich would hit two more three-pointers and was fouled on another try from behind the arc. The freshman guard made all three free throws as St. Edward's kept its lead, 31-28, with 6:42 left on the clock. A jumper by HARLEY NUSSMAN and three free throws increased the lead to eight points and Gramlich made it a 10-point advantage as he nailed his fifth triple of the first half at the 3:55 mark.
 
The Lions fought back using a 14-4 run to end the first half. Devondrick Walker and De'Andre Carson both had five points each during the comeback run.
 
Gramlich picked up where he left off in the first half as he nailed another three-pointer to open the second half.
 
TAMU-Commerce outscored the Hilltoppers, 13-5 over the next five minutes to open a five-point lead, 60-55. Cameron Blue capped off the run with a three pointer with 14:36 remaining.
 
A three-pointer by RAMIR BURTON got St. Edward's within one point at the 9:11 mark of the second half when he tallied a trey to cut the score to 71-70.
 
Seven points by Tyrie Wooten helped the Lions pull away from there, as they increased their lead to 82-72, with 5:43 remaining. TAMU-Commerce would keep the lead, as they were perfect from the charity stripe in the final five minutes of the game, going 12-for-12.
 
Gramlich led all scorers as he scored a career-high 27 points. He was 9-of-16 from the field and 6-of-10 from behind the three-point line. Stukes chipped in with 19 points, while Nussman had a great all-around game with seven points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. FRANKIE MGBOLU also had a solid game with eight points, four assists and three steals.

Stukes was one of six members of the All-Tournament Team.
 
St. Edward's will be back in action as they host Texas A&M-Kingsville on Tuesday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Recreation and Convocation Center. Live video and stats will be provided on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.