LAREDO, Texas (December 1, 2017) – The Texas A&M International University men's basketball broke a school record on Friday night in a2 81-36 victory over Arlington Baptist in front of 301 fans at the Courtyard Marriot Classic. The 36 points allowed is the fewest allowed in program history besting the 40 points given up to Arkansas-Fort Smith on Jan. 2, 2010.
 
"I felt that we took this team seriously and it will help us with our future opponents," TAMIU head coach Bryan Weakley said. "It was the ultimate team effort tonight and if we can continue to play like this then we are going to beat Heartland Conference."
 
Xabier Gomez was the leading scorer for the Dustdevils for the second night in a row with a career-high 19 points going 8-of-12 from the field. Stanley Perrin had 17 points off the bench with Dan Milota adding 11 points in limited minutes. The Dustdevils (5-4) held the Patriots (0-9) to 29.3% shooting and 7.7% from 3-point range.
 
The Dustdevils got off to another hot start with Gomez and Damon Leach scoring in the first 1:30 minutes of regulation on layups. They maintained the four- point advantage until Kamari Robinson hit his only three of the night giving TAMIU a 11-4 lead. The lead grew to 11 just a minute later following a pair of free throws from Robinson and a jumper by Wright.
 
The Dustdevils held the Patriots without a made field goal for the final 9:59 of the first half going on 23-4 run in the process. Perrin scored 13 of his career-high 17 points during that stretch including a pair of 3-pointers giving the home team a 42-12 advantage at the break. TAMIU outshot ABU 60.7% to 17.4% in the first half including holding the Patriots without a 3-pointer (0-10).
 
Milota scored the first five points of the second half for TAMIU followed by two fast break layups by Gomez to stretch the lead to 39-points, 51-12. The teams traded scores for the next four minutes until Milota sparked another run for the Dustdevils with two wide-open layups followed by another Gomez three to make it 61-18.
 
Chris McDonald hit his only three of the game with just over 10 minutes left in the game to restore the 40-point lead. A layup and three from Gomez combined with a layup from Shea Garland made it 71-27 heading into the under-8 media timeout. Another Garland layup stretched the lead to 48 with 1:30 remaining but a late layup from Zhaire Simmons put the Patriots on the board for one final time as TAMIU won its second-straight, 81-36.
 
The Dustdevils will host Southwestern Adventist on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 3 p.m. All home games are broadcast on the Heartland Conference Digital Network.
 
PLAYER NOTES
Danny Spinuzza
Spinuzza had another impressive night running the point for the Dustdevils dishing out a team-high seven assists. He now has 16 assists in the past two games while de also hit a 3-pointer for the second game in a row.
 
Stanley Perrin
The junior outscored the Patriots by himself in the first half, 15-12. He finished the night with a career-high in shots made, shot attempts, 3-pointers, 3-point attempts and points.
 
Xabier Gomez
Gomez continues to give opposing defense's headaches with his athleticism and shooting touch. The junior scored a career-high 19 points while shooting 66.7% from the field and 60% from 3-point range.   Tonight's game marked the first time this season he did not take a free-throw.