LAREDO, Texas (February 3, 2018) – Head coach Bryan Weakley orchestrated another impressive defensive game plan as the Texas A&M International University men's basketball team picked up their second Heartland Conference win of the year defeating Lubbock Christian 49-48 on Saturday afternoon in front of 645 fans at the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building. The win snapped a two-game winning streak in the series by the Chaps.
 
Kamari Robinson had a game-high 15 points going 6-of-13 from the field and 2-of-6 from 3-point range as he was one of five Dustdevils to pull down four rebounds. Jeremy Wright scored 13 points dishing out five assists with Xabier Gomez pitching in nine points. The Dustdevils (9-13, 2-8 HC) won despite being outshot 51.3% to 42.9% by the Chaps (10-12, 6-5 HC).
 
Robinson put the Dustdevils on the board first just over two minutes into the game with a layup which was countered by a layup from the Chaps on the next position. The Dustdevils would score six of the next nine points to take a 8-5 lead with all of the points coming in the paint.
 
TAMIU lead 10-7 with a little more than 11 minutes to play before the Chaps went on a 5-0 run over the next three minutes to take their first lead of the game on a 3-point play from Kentton Williams. The Dustdevils responded with a 7-0 run of their own to take a 17-12 lead on a pair of free throws from Gomez and a three from Brendan Ortiz.
 
The Chaps got within one, 17-16, with 4:49 remaining before the first intermission when the Dustdevils stretched the lead to nine, 27-18, over the next three minutes. LCU finished the half on a 8-0 run making back-to-back threes in the final 15 seconds to make it 27-26 at half in favor of the Dustdevils.
 
The Dustdevils came out of the break sluggish as the Chaps scored six straight points in the opening minute to take a 32-27 lead forcing a TAMIU timeout. Robinson and company continued to chip away at the lead until they tied it up for the third time of the afternoon, 34-34, on a layup from Gomez at 14:34.
 
But LCU continued force the issue with a 6-0 run making it 40-34 before Wright connected on his only three of the game with 11 minutes remaining. Wright would score on the next position making it a one-point game with Damon Leach trying it a 40-40 after going 1-of-2 from the free-throw line.
 
The deficit was four 48-44, with just under three minutes before Wright stepped up to the line making both free-throws making it a two-point game. The Dustdevils defense came up big on the next position forcing a LCU turnover followed by a 3-pointer from Gomez giving them a 49-48 lead with 2:05 remaining.
 
The game would come down to the final seconds as the Chaps had a chance to win it but Isaac Asrat's shot from just inside the arc bounced of the front of the rim as the Dustdevils defeated LCU 49-48.
 
The Dustdevils hit the road next week against Oklahoma Christian (Feb. 8) and Newman (Feb. 10).  
 
PLAYER NOTES
Kamari Robinson
 Robinson has been great in the first half in the past two games scoring a combined 23 points including a career-high 12 today. He went 5-of-8 from the field in the first 20 minutes while also recording a career-high three steals. The senior did see his streak of nine straight free throws come to end after missing his first attempt of the game at 3:54 in the first half.
 
Jeremy Wright
The senior is shooting lights out from the free-throw line after going 4-of-4 in today's win. The 67.4% career shooter has made 20 of his last 25 attempts after starting the season 10-of-24. He also dished out five or more assists in the 15^th time this season.