We're about five minutes from tipoff here, and both teams looked pretty pumped in warmups. Of course, when you are playing for a shot in the conference championship game, how can you not be pumped, right?

For ACU, it's their first appearance in the semis since the 1997-98 season, which also happens to be the last time the team made the tournament. There they lost a 134-129 thriller to UCO.

Ranked No. 9 in the region coming in, ACU beat No. 7 Southwestern Oklahoma State in the first round. Now they've got two wins over SWO this season -- which might be enough to push the Wildcats into the regional tournament. A win here, and I would think a regional berth for the Cats is a certainty, regardless of what happens in the championship game.

In-game is next ...

ACU vs. Texas A&M-Commerce

We're almost eight minutes in, and this looks as if it will be a physical game. Both teams are pounding down low, but both also seem to be willing to take a few shots from the outside if they're open.

Commerce was up by four early, but now the game is tied at 13.

Commerce has worked its way to a five-point lead, 20-15, with 7:12 to play in the first half. Neither team is shooting well, though. ACU -- which came into the game with a league-high 51.1 percent shooting effort this season -- is shooting an abysmal 29.4 percent from the floor, including a 14.3 percent performance from 3-point range. The Wildcats are also the LSC's best at 3s, averaging a hit on 39.4 percent coming in.

Commerce was struggling from the field early, hitting about 33 percent, but has improved that to 41.2 percent now.

These refs are really slowing this game. Total of 19 fouls called now. That's not something that will help these teams get their shooting touch back, I don't think. To be fair, ACU works to draw fouls, driving quickly to the basket, and that's what some of this has been. But we're to 21 now, and some of that is just not letting the guys play.

ACU's up 29-28 at the half, with the lead bouncing back and forth over the final minute thanks to free throws.

After 20 minutes, Commerce is shooting just under 42 percent. That isn't all that far below what they average, at 46. But ACU's shooting has been far under what is normal. The Wildcats improved down the stretch, but are shooting only 34.6 percent from the floor and 11.1 percent from beyond the arc. Again, coming in, they were a league-best 51 and 39 percent.

Playing well, though, has been Stephen Musa for ACU. He averages 6 points per game on the year and he had a team-high 9 in the first half. His 4 rebounds are just under his average of 5.5. Look for ACU to get him the ball more in the second half, as his size presents a big mismatch.

Important note here: While this one is only a one-point game, ACU is 17-1 this season when leading at the half.

Also interesting: This is only the fifth time this season the Wildcats had not scored at least 30 points in the first half. Of the four previous contests, ACU lost three of them.

The Lions are fired up. They came out of the locker room ready to play, and lead 40-33 thanks to a pair of steals and big buckets. The Cats answered with two big baskets scored on the break by Sencanski, and the momentum is a little more balanced now.

Momentum now definitely not balanced. An 11-0 run by ACU has the Cats keyed up, and it looks like ACU's speed in the transition game may be too much for the Lions to handle consistently.

Both teams, as it turns out, have a bit of a mismatch in the offensive post. Musa's too big to handle one-on-one, but he's had some trouble handling the quicker Commerce attack.

The game's tied up again, this time at 46, with 10 minutes to play.

Eight minutes left, ACU leading by one, Sencanski gets it near the corner. He finally hits on the 3 and was fouled in the process. When he sunk the ensuing free throw, the four-point play gave ACU a five-point edge.