Jan. 7, 2012

Final Stats

Senior James Silvie came off the bench to contribute a team-high 19 points to lead Texas A&M International University to an 80-73 road win over St. Edward's on Saturday in Austin. The win pushes the Dustdevils (12-3 overall) to their first 2-0 start in Heartland Conference play since the 2008-09 season.

TAMIU started the game with a 9-0 run before taking a 30-17 lead on a 3-pointer by Ryan McLucas at the 7:11 mark of the first half. St. Edward's (8-6, 0-2 Heartland) went on a 15-4 run at that point to close the gap to 34-32 at the half.

The game was tied 36-36 early in the half before TAMIU went on a 26-11 run to take a 62-47 lead at the 8:25 mark. The home team hung in the game but would no closer than five points the rest of the way and that was accomplished with 24 seconds left in regulation. Armando Brito made two free throws with four seconds remaining to push the final margin to seven points.

TAMIU finished with a 33-31 rebounding edge while making 24 of 53 field goal attempts (45.3 %) compared to 21 of 51 field goals made (41.2 %) made by the Hilltoppers.

Ryan McLucas finished with 17 points and Scottie Payne contributed 16 points in the winning effort. Silvie, Ian Salter and Brian Schaeffer tied for the team lead with five rebounds apiece.

TAMIU will try to stay perfect in Heartland Conference play with road games at Newman on Thursday and Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday.