SAN ANTONIO - Texas A&M International men's basketball (2-5) dropped a 68-61 decision to Southeastern Oklahoma (2-0) in the first game of the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic on Friday.

Xabier Gomez led the Dustdevils with 17 points as well as five rebounds, three assists and a steal. Jacob Alonzo posted 13 points with two rebounds, two steals and an assist. Brent Finn contributed eight points, two assists and a steal.

The first half was an extremely tight affair with both teams trading leads early. TAMIU came out on top and led for the most of the half, leading by as many as 23-17 with just over six minutes left in the half. SEOU battled back to reclaim the lead late with 1:25 left and took a 31-28 lead into the half.

The Savage Storm took control in the second half and ran out to a double-digit lead early in the half at 43-33. They managed to push their advantage out to its largest at 52-39 with 12 minutes left. However, the Dustdevils kept battling and slowly began to chip away at the lead, tying the game at 59-59 with 3:45 left. Unfortunately, that would be as close as they would get as SEOU put the game away with free throws down the stretch, winning 68-61.

TAMIU will be back in action on the second day of the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday, Nov. 24 as they face off against Talladega College at 3 p.m.