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GAME NOTES

LAREDO, Texas (February 7, 2018) – Texas A&M International University men's basketball takes its two-game winning streak on the road for a Thursday night matchup on Feb. 8 against Oklahoma Christian in Edmond, Okla. The game will be broadcast on the Heartland Conference Digital Network.
 
ABOUT TAMIU
Sixth-year head coach Bryan Weakley has the Dustdevils playing some of their best basketball of the season as they have won their past two games holding teams to 54 points per game. Controlling the pace of play and timely shooting has helped TAMIU get back into the tournament conversation after dropping their first eight conference games of the season.
 
Offensively, the Dustdevils rank near the bottom in the conference in points per game (64.6 ppg) but rank 14^th nationally in scoring defense allowing 65.5 points per game. Jeremy Wright (11.0 ppg, 5.1 apg, 2.3 spg) leads the charge on both ends of the court as he is one of nine Division II players to rank in the top-40 in total steals and assists.
 
Xabier Gomez (11.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.4 spg) made the game-winning three for the Dustdevils in a 49-48 victory over Lubbock Christian on Saturday. The Barcelona, Spain product came up with the winning basket but also played impressive defense on the final play as Isaac Asrat's shot bounced off the front of the iron. Gomez is the top 3-pointer shoot making 48.6% of the shots he takes from distance.
 
Wright has really turned his game around over the past seven games reaching double figures six times. The senior guard ranks third in the conference in total assists with 113 which is the fifth most in program history. He has been solid from the free-throw line having made 17 of his last 21 attempts including a 4-of-4 performance against LCU. Brendan Ortiz (9.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.1 apg) extended his consecutive 3-point streak to eight on Saturday going 1-of-5 from beyond the arc.
 
Kamari Robinson (10.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg) has really turned it on since being reinserted to the starting lineup having scored in double figures in four straight including a double-double against St. Edward's. Damon Leach (3.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg) has been the best player off the bench for the Dustdevils since Dan Milota (11.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg) went down with an injury. The junior big leads the team in shooting percentage making 56.9% of the shots he has taken so far this season.  
 
ABOUT OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN
Located in Edmond, Oklahoma with an enrollment of 1,974, Oklahoma Christian is 8-13 overall and 4-6 in the Heartland Conference. The Eagles are led by Cory Cole who was hired as the program's eighth head coach on April 6, 2016. He returned to OC after spending seven years at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, where he served as the associated head for GCU's women's program.
 
Elijiah Strickland (17.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg) is the leading scorer for an Eagles' team that scores 74.9 points per game shooting better than 44% from the field. Strickland ranks third in the conference in scoring as the senior guard has scored in double-digits in nine of his last 10 games. Jordan Box (15.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg) is one of the hottest shooters in the conference scoring a combined 60 points last week. He earned Player of the Week honors after pouring in a career-high 33 against St. Edward's followed up with a 27-point performance against Rogers State.
 
Roderick Smith (14.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg) has seen his production drop over the past four games due to foul trouble after averaging 18.3 in the previous six games. He had his best game of the season on Dec. 18, 2017 with 33 points and seven rebounds against Missouri-St. Louis.
 
THE LAST TIME AROUND
It was a pair of last second free throws that doomed the Dustdevils in a 62-60 defeat to OC on Jan. 11 in Laredo. Jeremy Wright scored a team-high 16 points going 6-of-14 from the field dishing out four assists. Damon Leach and Kamari Robison scored all 18 bench points for TAMIU in the loss.
 
THE SERIES
Thursday's game will be the 11^thall-time meeting and second of the 2017-18 season… OC's win earlier in the season ended a two-game winning streak for the Dustdevils… TAMIU is 4-1 on the road in the series with the only loss coming on Jan. 24, 2013.
 
A TAMIU WIN WOULD…
Be the Dustdevils second three game winning streak of the season and first since early December… Move them to 3-8 in Heartland Conference play and a tie with St. Mary's for eighth in the standings… Give Bryan Weakley 97 career victories, three short of becoming the first head coach in program history to win 100 games… Be their second road win of the season.
 
A TAMIU LOSS WOULD…
Extend their road losing streak to five games… Drop them to 2-9 in conference play… Award the Eagles their first season sweep in the series.
 
THIS DAY IN DUSTDEVIL MEN'S BASKETBALL HISTORY…
The Dustdevils are 2-0 on games played on Feb. 8 including 1-0 on the road… They defeated conference foe Rogers State 80-73 in Claremore, Okla. in 2014…. TAMIU defeated the Aggies of Oklahoma Panhandle State 76-66 in Laredo back in 2007…
 
A LOOK BACK AT SATURDAY
The Dustdevils executed their game plan to perfection in a 49-48 win over Lubbock Christian on Saturday in front of 645 fans at the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building. Xabier Gomez made the winning 3-pointer with a little more than two minutes remaining before guarding LCU's Isaac Asrat on the final shot the bounced off the front of the rim.
 
Kamari Robinson and Jeremy Wright combined for 28 points including a team-high 15 points from Robinson with Wright recorded five assists for the seventh time. The Dustdevil bigs were impressive holding all-conference performer Brennen Fowler to four points and four rebounds shooting 3-of-5 from the field in 20 minutes.
 
UP NEXT
The Dustdevils finish the two-game road trip against Newman on Saturday, Feb. 10, in Wichita, Kan. The Jets won the first meeting of the season, 86-85, on Jan. 13, 2017 in Laredo.