LAREDO, Texas (December 12, 2015) -- TAMIU's rematch against Texas A&M Kingsville on Saturday afternoon resulted in an last-minute loss for the Dustdevils, 53-56. The 53-56 final score mirrored the previous competition between the South Texas squads that took place on November 15th.
The Dustdevils controlled the game pace during the first half, closing out the initial 20 minutes of play with a 23-23 lead. Moving into the second half, TAMIU matched evenly with the Javelinas, which resulted in 11 total lead changes between the teams.
With 1:57 to play in the game, TAMIU's
Jordan VanDeKop capitalized on a Javelina foul to give the Dustdevils a 53-52 lead with two free throws. The Javelinas would answer with a 3-point shot in the final minute. A single free throw was added to the score, making it 53-56, in favor of Kingsville. The Dustdevils called a time out with 9.4 seconds remaining, but Senior
Anthony Alston's attempt for a three was just short of the rim.
Head Coach Bryan Weakley commented on the performance of his team by saying, "I thought we played hard tonight but we showed too much mental fatigue. We were not sharp late game." He continued by adding, "We will correct some mistakes in practice next week and get ready for our first conference game on Thursday."
TAMIU's performance was led by Seniors
Deonnte Breedlove and
Anthony Alston, who combined for 23 of the Dustdevils' points (12pts and 11pts, respectively). Junior
Jordan VanDeKop stepped up to deliver a 12-point performance, which included 12 rebounds and two assists.
Up next, the Dustdevils will prepare for their first Heartland Conference match of the season against Lubbock Christian on December 17th. The game will be played at Laredo's United High school. Action starts at 7:30pm from the United High School gymnasium.
Keep up with TAMIU Basketball on social media. Follow @TAMIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram, and like /GoDustdevils on Facebook.
