Men's Basketball 11/11/2012 12:05:00 AM

Men’s Basketball Holds off Eastern New Mexico

Box Score LAREDO, Texas – The TAMIU men’s basketball team withstood a late surge by Eastern New Mexico University, holding on for a 76-68 win Saturday night at the TAMIU KCB.

After leading by 24 midway through the second half Greyhounds’ point guard Rodney Blackmon, who led all scorers with 27 points, led a ferocious comeback trimming TAMIU’s lead all the way down to just three points.

Laredo native Danny Rosas hit two clutch three-pointers down the stretch and Johnel Grey banked home a shot to help TAMIU hold on for the win.

Head Coach Bryan Weakley picked up his first win as a head coach, but said he wasn’t pleased with the way the team finished.

“It feels good to start the season with a win, but all I can think about is practice on Monday and our next game on Wednesday. This team has to figure out how we’re going to rebounds and defend without fouling. Those are the two most important things we can possess as a team and they will determine the outcome of our season. The biggest positive I got from tonight’s game was the way we shared the ball. They played unselfish and they care about one another.”

Junior transfer Matt Culliver nearly recorded a triple double, leading all TAMIU scorers with 15 points to go along with nine rebounds and eight assists. Rosas led the TAMIU bench, which outscored the Greyhounds’ bench 29-7, with 13 points on 4-8 shooting from the field, including a 3-7 performance from beyond the arc. Damal Donaldson, Felipe Vezaro, and Jayvin Reynolds each finished with 10 points, while Grey added nine. The Dustdevils shot 50.9% from the field and 45% from three-point range.

After getting off to a slow start, the Dustdevils began to find their rhythm using an 8-0 run to grab a 12-4 lead. Leading 16-11 TAMIU began to pull away with three straight points by Reynolds and a three pointer from Culliver to give the home team a 23-14 lead. Vezaro hit back-to-back three’s extending the lead to 16 points, before Donaldson and Rosas hit two more consecutive shots pushing TAMIU’s lead to 20.

With the Dustdevil’s leading by 22, ENMU’s Dayton De La Cerda grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a shot in the paint as the first half buzzer sounded, sending TAMIU into the half with a 45-25 lead.

The Dustdevils came out strong again in the second half and Rosas three at the 14:22 mark gave TAMIU their biggest lead of the game at 58-34. Over the next nine minutes TAMIU missed seven shots and committed six turnovers allowing the Greyhounds to go on a 19-0 run, cutting the lead to 61-56.

Culliver finally ended the scoring drought with a layup and Rosas followed with a three to push the lead back out to ten. The Greyhounds came right back with a 9-2 run, capped by a Blackmon three, cutting the lead down to three. Rosas once again came through with another clutch three-ball and Grey banked home a layup with just over a minute left to play to give TAMIU a 73-65 lead. Rosas and Vezaro made crucial free throws in the final 30 seconds to preserve the 76-68 win.

The Dustdevils start the season 1-0 and will now begin preparations for a showdown with Texas A&M Kingsville, who swept the season series over TAMIU last year. The Dustdevils will battle the Javelinas on the road on November 14 in Kingsville at 7 p.m.

Print Friendly Version