Nov. 19, 2011
Final Stats
ODESSA, Texas - Earlier this week senior Brian Schaeffer gave an impassioned speech to his teammates declaring his willingness to take on whatever role was necessary to help his team win.
Friday night Schaeffer made good on that promise scoring 17 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, both game highs, as the Texas A&M International University Men's Basketball Team knocked off West Texas A&M 53-50 at the UTPB Chick-fil-A Classic in Odessa, Texas.
"Brian had a refuse to lose mentality tonight," said Head Coach Shane Rinner. "He's been our most consistent player thus far. We did not shoot well but we really defended hard. We also showed a lot of poise and toughness down the stretch."
TAMIU fell behind early in the game thanks to a great start by West Texas guards Kennon Washington and Tez Dumars. The two combined for 16 points in the first nine minutes of the game putting the Dustdevils in a 21-7 hole.
TAMIU began to chip away at the Buffaloes lead with timely three-pointers from Armando Brito and Schaeffer. Evan Matteson put back an offensive rebound as the first half clock expired, capping a 13-4 run sending the Dustdevils into the locker room trailing 24-20.
With 13:28 remaining in the second half the Dustdevils connected on four straight three pointers, three by senior Ryan McLucas and one by Schaeffer, to put TAMIU on top 42-37. The Buffaloes had whittled the lead down to three points with under eight minutes remaining before sophomore Joe Reid converted a crucial three point play after drawing a foul extending the Dustdevils lead to 45-39.
With under a minute remaining in the game, TAMIU's lead was back down to three and the Dustdevils were in need of another big shot. The bucket came courtesy of McLucas who knocked down a jumper to put TAMIU back up five, but Tyshawn Edwards connected on the opposite end to make it a three-point game once again.
After the Dustdevils missed back to back free-throws with under 30 seconds to play, the Buffaloes had one final attempt to send the game into overtime. David Henderson's three-point attempt was errant and the Dustdevils were able to hold on for the 53-50 win.
TAMIU improves to 2-2 on the season with one more game remaining in the UTPB Classic. The Dustdevils will take on Abilene Christian Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. before heading to Fresno, California to take part in the Fresno Pacific Classic Tournament.
