Men's Basketball 2/8/2013 1:23:00 AM

Dustdevils edged by Newman

Box Score LAREDO (February 7, 2013) – TAMIU’s two leading scorers Matthew Culliver Jr. and Johnel Gray were held to only 13 points, going a combined 3-13 from the floor and 0-7 from beyond the arc as Newman University defeated the Dustdevils 59-58 Thursday night at the TAMIU KCB.

Leading by as many as 10 in the first half, the Dustdevils allowed the Jets back in the game in the second and Shamar Acuay converted a crucial three-point play with under two minutes remaining to give Newman a 59-56 lead.

Culliver pulled TAMIU within one on a layup with 1:40 remaining, but it would be TAMIU’s final points of the night. In their final three possession of the game, Damal Donaldson committed a costly turnover, Culliver couldn’t find the mark on a baseline floater, and a half-court shot from Johnel Gray missed wide as the Dustdevils fell to 5-5 in conference play.

With TAMIU’s Thursday night loss, the Dustdevils now find themselves on the outside looking in trailing St. Mary’s (5-4) and UT-Permian Basin (5-4) by half-a-game for the fourth and final spot in the conference tournament.

The early moments of the first half were back and forth, but six straight points by Jordan Clark, Donaldson, Gray gave TAMIU a 16-11 lead with 12:57 to go. After four scoreless minutes, the Jets used a 4-0 run to pull within one, but TAMIU answered with five straight to push the lead back out to six. After Newman cut the lead back down to three, the Dustdevils took their biggest lead of the game off a 9-2 run capped by a Marc Price Jr. tre. The Jets scored the final three points of the half and TAMIU took a 32-26 lead into the break.

TAMIU led by six at one point in the second half, but were unable to break away. Acuay gave the Jets their first lead of the game since 14:18 remaining in the first half, hitting a jumper in the paint to put Newman up 49-48. The Jets pushed their lead out to three, but TAMIU came back to regain the lead after four straight free throws from Gray and Culliver. With the game tied at 56, Acuay made the play of the game converting a three-point play with just under two minutes remaining. The Dustdevils managed only one more basket the rest of the way as Newman came away with the 59-58 win.

TAMIU shot 21-of-41 from the field (51.2 percent) and 14-of-22 at the free throw line, but struggled from the outside connecting on only 2-of-13 attempts. Clark was the only TAMIU player to score in double digits finishing with 18 going a perfect 8-of-8 from the field.

Acuay led the Jets with a game-high 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting in only 23 minutes off the bench. Also in double figures was Darrell Traylor with 11 points to go along with six rebounds. After shooting 34.6 percent (9-26) from the field in the first half, the Jets were 50 percent (13-26) in the second half and outscored TAMIU 33-26 in the second half.

The Dustdevils now face a must-win situation against conference leader Arkansas Fort Smith on Saturday afternoon. TAMIU needs a win to keep pace in the hunt for the final playoff bid as the season enters the home stretch. The Dustdevils and Lions will tip off Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. at the TAMIU KCB.

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