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ANAHEIM, Calif. – Texas A&M International wrapped its play at the Disney Division II Tip-Off Classic with its stiffest test of the young season on Sunday. The Dustdevils outscored No. 2 Seattle Pacific 32-30 in the second half, but a 13-point deficit that carried over from the first half doomed them in the 66-55 loss.
The Dustdevils finished play at the Tip-Off Classic 0-3, falling by a combined 49 points to No. 5 Minnesota State-Mankato, SPU and host California State-Dominguez Hills. On a positive note, the Dustdevils outscored both the top-5 ranked teams it faced by a combined four points in the second half, but first half holes swallowed those performances.
Against the Falcons on Sunday, TAMIU again produced a pride-swelling second half with Curtis Trotter sinking all 16 of his team-high points. Making that point total even more impressive, Trotter dropped all his points in only 17 minutes of play – 10 of which came in the second half.
Fellow big man Damal Donaldson shot 6-for-8 from the field for 12 points in 24 minutes, starting in the post for TAMIU. Behind the Dustdevil centers, Jordan Clark and Johnel Grey followed up with nine and seven points, respectively. Vadel Faniel also threw down seven points.
As a team, the Dustdevils struggled with their shooting – ripping only 45.45 percent of their attempts from the field and only 18.8 percent from the 3-point line.
The Dustdevils will return to Laredo to host the La Posada Classic on Nov. 15-16, with games against Arlington Baptist (Nov. 15, 7:30 p.m.) and Hillsdale Freewill Baptist College (Nov. 16, 2 p.m.). Also playing in the La Posada Classic, the University of Texas of the Permian Basin will face HFBC on Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. and then Arlington Baptist on Nov. 16 at noon.
