LAREDO, Texas (January 27, 2018) – Four players scored in double figures as Texas A&M International University men's basketball picked up their first Heartland Conference win of the season in a hard-fought 65-60 victory over St. Edward's on Saturday afternoon at the TAMIU KCB.
 
Kamari Robinson picked up his second career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. The senior came up big in the first half where he had 11 points going 5-of-5 from the field. Jeremy Wright added 15 points while dishing out eight assists with Brendan Ortiz and Xabier Gomez both scoring 13. The Dustdevils (8-13, 1-8) held the Hilltoppers (14-7, 4-5) to a season-low in points as they shot 45.7 from the field and 84.2% from the free-throw line.
 
Neither team could buy a bucket in the first three minutes before Shea Garland scored on a layup at 16:50. The Hillltoppers' responded on the next position making it a 2-2 game. Damon Leach's jumper at 13:46 on an assist from Ortiz was the start of a 7-2 run from TAMIU.
 
SEU had the lead down to three with under 12 minutes left in the first half before Robinson hit a jumper followed by a fast break layup from Gomez on a steal from Wright to stretch the lead to seven, 13-6. Ortiz connected on his first 3-pointer of the evening at 8:24 following a SEU turnover giving the Dustdevils a 10-point lead, 18-8.
 
The teams traded baskets over the next three minutes until SEU's Landon Goesling scored nine straight points to give the Hilltoppers a 25-24 lead at 2:21. The Dustdevils responded with a 4-0 run of their own with Gomez making two free-throws and Wright connecting on a jumper as the teams went into halftime tied at 28-all.
 
Ortiz ignited a 6-0 run over the first two minutes of the second half with a pair of free-throws on their first position. Robinoson followed that with a jumper before Garland scored in the post.
 
Following a Dorian Lopez free throw at 16:49, 36-31, the Dustdevils stretched the lead back to double-digits on a three from Wright and jumper from Ortiz. TAMIU's lead hovered at 10 points for the next four minutes before Goesling was able to get open for the Hilltoppers. The conference's leading scorer made back-to-back threes to bring SEU within three with under 10 minutes left.
 
Like they had done all game, the Dustdevils responded countering with a 5-0 run of their own thanks in-large part to the play of Wright. The senior went 2-of-2 from the free-throw line before making a three with the shot clock winding down making it 54-46.
 
SEU chipped away the lead again getting it to three at 5:39, 54-51, before Ortiz hit a contest three sending the TAMIU bench into a frenzy. Wright followed that up with a pair from the charity stripe as the lead was eight heading into the final four minutes.
 
With the Hilltoppers threatening to steal the game away, Leach came up with a huge offensive rebound and put back at 1:21making it 61-56 in favor of TAMIU. Two free-throws from Goesling and jumper from James Taylor had the lead down to one with under 40 seconds remaining but Wright and Leach combined to go 4-of-4 from the free-throw in final seconds as TAMIU won their first conference game of the season, 65-60.
 
The Dustdevils finish their two-game home stand next Saturday, Feb. 3, when the Chaps of Lubbock Christian make the trip to Laredo.
 
PLAYER NOTES
Kamari Robinson
 Robinson scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half going 5-of-5 from the field. His 11 rebounds are the second-most in his career while the nine defensive rebounds were a career-high.
 
Jeremy Wright
The senior has found his shooting touch reaching double-digits in scoring in six of the last seven games. He went a career-high 7-of-9 from the free-throw line none bigger than with 22 second left in the game. His eight assists give him 108 for the season which is the sixth-most in program history.  
 
Brendan Ortiz
Ortiiz was huge in the second half for the Dustdevils scoring nine of his 12 points in the final stanza. He extended his free-throw streak to nine by making both of his freebies 30 seconds into the second half.