SAN ANTONIO - Texas A&M International men's basketball (3-5) closed out the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic with a 72-64 win over Talladega (8-3) on Saturday.

Xabier Gomez led the Dustdevils with a season-high 26 points as well as four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Brent Finn put up 13 points with four assists and two rebounds. Damon Leach contributed eight points and five rebounds.

While TAMIU didn't trail in the first half, there were four ties early, and the Tornadoes kept the deficit close for most of the period. The Dustdevils took their largest lead of the half at 27-20 with five minutes left, and eventually took a 35-30 advantage into the break.

Talladega found their footing early in the second half as they were able to tighten things up with four lead changes and six ties in the first eight minutes of the period. TAMIU took back control of the game and pushed out to their largest lead at 64-54 with under six minutes left. The Tornadoes refused to go down without a fight as they trimmed the lead to a single possession late, but the Dustdevils put the game out of reach down the stretch with free throws and took the 72-64 victory.

TAMIU will now return home on Tuesday, Nov. 27 as they play host to Western New Mexico at 7 p.m.