LAREDO, Texas - Texas A&M International men's basketball (5-18, 2-10 HC) dropped a 81-60 decision to Newman (18-7, 9-4 HC) on Saturday.

Xabier Gomez and Brent Finn paced the Dustdevils with 17 points apiece. Gomez added seven rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Finn added two rebounds, an assist and a steal. Damon Leach logged a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, as well as two blocks and two steals. Tom Higgins posted 10 points and four rebounds. Caleb Highley contributed seven rebounds.

TAMIU started hot as they opened on a 4-0 run. However, the Jets slowly began to find their footing and took their first lead at 6-4. From there, things were tightly contested for the remainder of the half with neither team able to get much separation. Newman was able to push out to their largest lead of the half at 21-10 with just under nine minutes left in the half. The Dustdevils were able to trim that lead, as they only trailed 34-28 headed into the break.

The second half was all Jets as they took a double-digit lead to stay at 44-33 with 14:38 left. They took their first 20-point lead at 67-47 with just over four minutes left in the game. Newman eventually took a 81-69 victory.

TAMIU will be back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 19 as they take a break from conference play and travel to Las Cruces, N.M. to face off against Division I New Mexico State.