LAREDO, Texas (November 24, 2017) – Kamari Robinson's first career double-double wasn't enough as the Texas A&M International University men's basketball dropped a heartbreaker to Texas A&M-Kingsville, 66-61, on Friday night at the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building in front of 254 fans.
 
Robinson recorded his first career double-double with a career night in points and rebounds. He had 19 points going 7-of-12 from the field while pulling down 13 rebounds with seven of those coming in the first half. Jeremy Wright had 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting while Xabier Gomez chipped in 13 points and six rebounds. The Javelinas (7-0) outshot the Dustdevils (3-3) on the perimeter 47.6% to 39.3% while also taking 15 more free-throws.
 
Neither team could find the bottom of the net in the first three minutes going a combined 0-of-9 before Robinson's layup opened the scoring at 16:44. With the game tied at 4-all, Robinson and Wright both were good from downtown to extend to open a 10-6 lead heading into the media timeout.
 
The Dustdevils weathered a 10-0 run from the Javelinas giving the visitors their first lead of the game, 18-13, with 6:43 remaining in the first half.  A layup from Wright started a 13-4 run by TAMIU capped off with a pair of free throws from Gomez to make it 26-22. The lead reached as high as eight, 30-22 before TAMUK scored six straight to finish the half making 30-28 after 20 minutes.
 
A jumper by the Javelinas' Will West tied the game at 30-30 in the first minute of the second half before TAMIU scored seven of the next 10 points on layups by Robinson and Marek Hajek and a three from Dan Milota to take a 37-33 lead. The Javelinas responded with a run of their own scoring 12 of the next 16 points to take their largest lead of the game, 45-41.
 
The Dustdevils retook the lead, 49-48, with 7:16 remaining on an and-one from Wright. The teams traded baskets over the next six minutes until a layup from TAMUK's Trey Sumpter with a little more than a minute left put the Javelinas up by three.
 
Milota responded on the next trip down the floor for the Dustdevils hitting the second of his two 3-pointers on the night to tie it at 59-all. Robinson's layup in traffic with 26 seconds left gave the Dustdevils a 61-60 lead before TAMUK's Caelan Neal made a contest jumper in the lane put the Dustdevils down one with 11 seconds left. Wright's layup in the final seconds went off the back iron as the Javelinas made four free throws to hand the Dustdevils a 66-61 loss at home.
 
The Dustdevils will hit the road for their next game, facing Western New Mexico Monday, Nov. 27, at 7 p.m. (CT) in Silver City, N.M. Links to streaming feeds and live stats can be found on the TAMIU men's basketball schedule page.
 
PLAYER NOTES
Kamari Robinson
Robinson had a career-night after making his third start of the season and first since Nov. 11. The senior forward becomes the first Dustdevil to record a double-double this season with 19 points and 13 rebounds. At halftime, he had already set a career-high in rebounds with seven.
 
Jeremy Wright
Wright is the only Dustdevil to have scored in double figures in all six games this season. His 16 points are the second-most for the Gardena, Calif. native in 2017 after attempting a career-high 16 shots. He also tied for the team-high in assists with three.  
 
Xabier Gomez
Gomez's 13 on 5-of-11 shooting marks the fifth-time he has reached double-figures in scoring this season. It also marks the second time he has made five shots while attempting 11. He was held to a season-low three free throws in the loss.
 
Danny Spinuzza
Spinuzza played a career-high 28 minutes at the point for the Dustdevils finishing with three assists and three rebounds. He attempted his first career free-throws going 1-of-2.
 
Damon Leach
Leach played 13 minutes tonight, 10 of those coming in the first half, doubling his minutes from the previous two games. He was perfect from the charity stripe, 2-of-2 while pulling down four rebounds.