Jan. 5, 2012
Final Stats
ODESSA, Texas - Despite senior captain and leading scorer Ryan McLucas sitting out because of the flu, the Texas A&M International University Men's Basketball team rallied for a huge win on the road 65-59 over U.T. Permian Basin to open conference play.
"I think this is a testament to how deep and talented our roster is," said Head Coach Shane Rinner. "Ryan was a game time decision, but we felt like we had to keep his health as our top priority. Even without Ryan in the lineup, we were confident that we had the personnel to give us the effort we needed tonight. After we got up big in the second half, we told the team not to think we would just cruise to a win. Our opponents were extremely talented and well coached and we knew they would fight as hard as they could to get back in. Credit our guys for grabbing some timely rebounds and hitting key free throws late in the game."
Senior center Evan Matteson tallied his second consecutive double-double and third of the season, scoring 10 points and adding 13 rebounds. Bryan Schaeffer scored a game high 13 and grabbed seven rebounds, while James Silvie kicked in 11 points. The Falcons struggled to shoot the ball, finishing 19-38 (32 percent) from the field while the Dustdevils finished 25-57 (43 percent). TAMIU struggled with ball security turning it over 20 times, but distributed the ball wall dishing out 17 assists.
The Dustdevils took control of the game early, opening with a 7-0 run and extending their lead to 15-4 at the 12:42 mark. With nine minutes remaining in the opening half, UTPB cut the lead down to six points before TAMIU responded with an 17-6 run over the next two minutes to give the Dustdevils their biggest lead of the half 34-17. The Falcons closed the half on a 5-0 run and TAMIU led 34-22 at the half.
After the Falcons cut the lead down to 10 with a quick bucket to open the second half, the Dustdevils fired off a 13-0 run to take a commanding 47-24 lead. Just minutes later with TAMIU still in control of the game leading by 20 points, the Falcons roared back to life over the next nine minutes using a 22-6 run to trim the lead down to four points 57-53. Senior guard Scottie Payne was clutch down the stretch scoring six of his nine points in the final two minutes of the game to keep the Dustdevils afloat. Tyree Murray put the icing on the cake hitting two free throws with 25 seconds remaining to secure the 65-59 victory.
The Dustdevils improve to 11-3 on the season and 1-0 in conference play. The team will now head to Austin for the second stage of their four game road trip, to take on the St. Edward's University Hilltoppers on January 7 at 12 noon.
