LAREDO, Texas (January 13, 2018) – It was another heartbreaking loss for the Texas A&M International University men's basketball team as they missed a go-ahead 3-pointer in the in final seconds in a 86-85 loss to the Jets of Newman on Saturday in front of 215 fans at the TAMIU KCB.
 
Jeremy Wright was one of four Dustdveils in double figures scoring a career-high 25 points going 9-of-14 from the field and 5-of-10 from 3-point range dishing out six assists. Kamaria Robinson had 18 off the bench with Dan Milota and Xabier Gomez pitching in 13 and 11 respectively. The Dustdevils (7-10, 0-5 HC) shot 53.4% from the field while forcing 16 NU (6-10, 2-3 HC) turnovers.
 
The Dustdevils scored the first basket of the game on a layup from Gomez followed by a 9-2 run by the Jets all coming from the 3-point line. A pair of free throw from Robinson followed by another layup from Gomez at 13:52 made it a one-point game, 9-8, just under 14 minutes remaining.
 
Wright got a fast break layup at 10:41 after picking Cameron Goldfinch's pocket to give the Dustdevils a 14-13 lead. The Jets responded with a 11-2 to take an eight-point lead at 7:36. Two free throws from Shea Garland and a 3-pointer from Gomez cut the deficit to three with six minutes to play before the first intermission.
 
Just like earlier in the half, TAMIU allowed the Jets to find open shooters on that perimeter as the deficit ballooned to 11 on a pair of threes. Chris McDonald's three from the right corner under three minutes cut the deficit to single digits, 34-26. The Dustdevils finished the half on a 7-2 run spearheaded by five points from Wright to trail 45-40 at halftime.
 
Wright started the second half right where he left making a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two, 40-38. A Milota three at 17:22 ended a 5-0 Jet run as Robinson's layup at 15:35 at TAMIU within two for the second time in the half. The two teams traded buckets over the next two minutes with Damon Leach, Wright and Robinson all scoring for the Dustdevils.
 
It was the deep ball that continued to haunt the Dustdevils as NU made a back-to-back 3-pointers with under 13 minutes remaining making it 60-52. But Milota didn't let his team quit as he went on a personal 5-0 run getting it the deficit back to three, 60-57, at 10:36.
 
After a pair of empty positions, the Dustdevils were down by nine with a little more than eight minutes left before Ortiz caught fire from three leading another Dustdevil comeback. The sophomore guard made two of his three 3-pointers within a minute of each other making it a five-point game with 6:47 remaining.
 
The deficit was seven at 5:04 before Milota hit his third and final three of the night. Ortiz and Wright followed that up with back-to-back treys to tie the game at 79-79. NU would once again convert from three but TAMIU responded quickly as Robinson converted a 3-point play at 1:06 to tie the game again.
 
Wright brought the crowd to their feet nailing a contested 3-pointer from the left side giving the Dustdevils an 85-84 lead with 37 seconds remaining. The Dustdevils surrendered the lead again with 22 seconds left and were called for an offensive foul on their following possession to give the Jets the ball back with 12 seconds remaining. The Dustdevils locked down on defense forcing a turnover on the in-bound pass but were unable to get a shot to fall as they frantically looked for the game-winner.
 
The Dustdevils hit the road for three straight games beginning with a trip up to Fort Smith to face the nationally-ranked Lions of Arkansas-Fort Smith on Thursday, Jan. 18.  
 
PLAYER NOTES
Jeremy Wright
Wright became the fourth different Dustdevils to eclipsed the 20-point mark this season with his 25-point performance against the Jets. His made a career-high nine shots and four 3-pointers as he led the team in scoring for back-to-back games. The 14 second-half points were also a career-high. His six assists were the most for him since dishing a career-high 10 against St. Mary's on Dec. 9.
 
Kamari Robinson
Robinson scored 18 of TAMIU's 25 bench points as the senior reached double figures for the ninth game this season and 11^th time in his career. He also made four free-throws for the third time this season.
 
Dan Milota
Milota tied a season-high with three 3-pointers. It marks the third time this season that the senior forward has converted three from beyond the arc.