Jan. 1, 2012

Final Stats

LAREDO, Texas - After a sloppy defensive effort in their tournament opener, the Texas A&M International University Men's Basketball team responded Saturday night slowing down powerful Cedarville University winning 87-72. The win is the Dustdevils seventh in a row and moves TAMIU to 10-3 on the season, as they get set to open conference play on January 5th.

"I was very pleased with our defense tonight," said Head Coach Shane Rinner. "This was a team that I think would be very competitive in the Heartland Conference. They are tough, smart, efficient and well coached, so this was a big win for us. We were willing to give up the inside stuff, but we focused on slowing down their perimeter game and that took them out of their offensive rhythm. A win like this shows me that we are growing, we are a tough bunch and that we are a group that likes to be challenged."

For the second straight night, senior guard Ryan McLucas was the high point man for TAMIU, this time picking up 20 points on 7-9 shooting. Over the weekend, McLucas was good on 10-15 3-point attempts scoring 48 total points. "Ryan was extremely efficient tonight," said Coach Rinner. "We can't ask for much more when he scores 20 points and takes only nine shots."

Senior big man Evan Matteson picked up his second double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 boards. He was also perfect from the free throw line, knocking down all five of his attempts. Three more Dustdevils scored in double figures with Brian Schaeffer kicking in 15, while Joe Reid and Armando Brito added 10 apiece.

For the Yellow Jackets, junior forward Zimmy Nwogbo was dominant inside scoring 28 points, grabbing nine rebounds and making his way to the free throw line for 11 attempts. The Dustdevils were outrebounded 30-28, but turned the ball over only five times compared to 11 for Cedarville. TAMIU shot 58 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range. Cedarville was held to 45 percent shooting and 44 percent from downtown.

After falling behind 10-6 in the first five minutes of the game, the Dustdevils rallied with a 21-7 run to take a ten point 27-17 lead at the 5:48 mark. A few minutes later McLucas, who scored 14 points in the first half, gave TAMIU a 15 point lead knocking down one of his four first half threes. Matteson, Brito and Joe Reid each connected on jumpers in the final three minutes, to give the Dustdevils a 14-point 46-32 halftime lead.

Cedarville opened the second half with a 4-0 run, cutting the Dustdevils lead down to 10 points. But Matteson, Brito and Reid responded again, each knocking down shots as part of a 7-0 TAMIU run to give the Dustdevils a 53-36 lead. With tenacious defense and high percentage shots on offense, the Dustdevils extended their lead out to 73-50 at the 6:40 mark. The Yellow Jackets would never seriously threaten again and TAMIU went on for the 87-72 win.

The Dustdevils now begin conference play with a four game road trip. The team will travel to Odessa to take on U.T. Permian Basin January 5th, followed by games versus St. Edwards, Newman and Oklahoma Panhandle State.