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Box Score 2
LAREDO, Texas – The 4th annual La Posada Classic began with a burst, as the host Texas A&M International Dustdevils buried their first win of the season with a series of slams by senior Jordan Clark.
TAMIU (1-3, 0-0 Heartland Conference) rallied from a 1-point halftime deficit to dismantle Arlington Baptist, 79-69, in the second game of the yearly collegiate classic. Five Dustdevils, including Clark (12 points), finished with double-digit point totals. Senior captain Matthew Culliver Jr. produced a double-double with a ten spot in both points and rebounds.
Joining Clark and Culliver, fellow senior Johnel Grey drilled a team-high 13 points. Both TAMIU big men, Curtis Trotter and Damal Donaldson, took advantage of their size and torque in the paint with 12 points apiece.
Culliver connected with Clark for a rim-rocking ally-oop with just more than a minute remaining in the first half, stealing the momentum from the then-surging Patriots (0-1). From that point on, TAMIU outscored Arlington Baptist 38-30 through the remainder of the game.
The swelteringly tight game featured only three game-tying plays and seven lead changes. As a team, TAMIU shot 54.4 percent (16-for-29) from the field and 63.2 percent (12-for-13) after being fouled, but only 29.4 percent (5-for-17) from behind the arc.
On the other hand, ABU shot 46.7 (21-for-45)percent from the field, 36.8 percent (7-for-19) from downtown and 54.1 percent (20-for-37) from the free throw line.
The Dustdevils starting five – Culliver, Grey, Clark, Donaldson and Vadel Faniel – scored 51 of the team's 79 total points. The team forced the Patriots into 15 turnovers in front of 165 supporters in the home opener.
The Dustdevils will return to action on Nov. 16 for the second and final day of the 4th annual La Posada Classic, taking on Hillsdale Free Will Baptist at the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building at 2 p.m. Preceding that game, Arlington Baptist will face the University of Texas of the Permian Basin at noon. UTPB defeated Hillsdale Free Will Baptist, 111-78, in the Classic's tip-off game on Friday.
