WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Midwestern State's Trae Jones enjoyed a career night rocking the nets for six 3-pointers on his way 20 points and hustled to complete his first collegiate double-double with 10 rebounds Thursday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
 
But a sluggish start to the second half doomed the Mustangs to a 78-69 loss to Texas A&M-Commerce as the Lions clinched a share of a nameless division title.
 
Consecutive blocks by Wayne Stewart and Deonta Terrell put Texas A&M-Commerce out on the front foot as the Lions quickly doubled their halftime advantage to six points when Terrell converted a three-point play 30 seconds into the half.
 
"The blocks at the beginning of the second half set the tone and forced us to play catch up the rest of the night," MSU Texas coach Justin Leslie said.
 
Terrell paced the Lions with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while Stewart and Alberto Moreno added 15 points playing a key role in helping the Lions dominate points in the paint -- 40-22.
 
The points in the paint were the difference in the game," Leslie said. "They were able to drive the lane on us and then when they missed shots, they were able to get offensive rebounds."
 
Senior guard D'monta Harris added 18 points and narrowly out on his fourth double-double of the season with nine rebounds, while sophomore Jalin Brown gave the Mustangs a third double-figure scorer with 10 points and six rebounds.
 
Despite the slow start to the second half, the Mustangs used a 10-2 run fueled by 3-pointers from Jones and senior Darius Thompson to briefly tie the game at 44-44 on Thompson's pull-up jumper in the paint at the 16:30 mark.
 
But the Lions responded with a 12-3 run of their own and extended the advantage to 72-59 when Moreno converted a transition layup with 2:45 to play.
 
Midwestern State takes on UT Tyler Saturday afternoon at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.