LAREDO, Texas – Texas A&M International men's basketball (0-8, 0-5 LSC) fought hard, but came up short in heartbreaking fashion in a 63-58 decision to No. 13 St. Edward's (6-1, 4-1 LSC) on Thursday.

Three Dustdevils finished in double digits on the night. Freshman Anthony Scott and junior Simba Zihumo led the Dustdevils with 11 points apiece. Scott finished one assist shy of a double-double with nine along with six rebounds and two steals, while Zihumo added two rebounds to his line. Senior Grey Parrish posted 10 points with two rebounds. Both junior Tre Thomas and senior Matija Novkovic contributed eight points, with Thomas adding seven rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal and Novkovic adding three rebounds.

The game was incredibly close the entire 40 minutes with 10 lead changes and 13 ties. In the first half alone there with eight lead changes and eight ties. Midway through the period, both teams forced a four and a half minute scoring drought with the Hilltoppers leading 16-12. With seven minutes left in the half, Zihumo broke the stalemate with back-to-back three pointers to give the Dustdevils the 18-16 lead. The game continued to flow back and forth for the remainder of the half, with SEU taking a slim 31-30 advantage into the intermission.

The second half would continue the back and forth nature of the opening period, with neither team able to increase the margin by more than four points for the first 15 and a half minutes of the final half. With 6:13 remaining, the Hilltoppers began 10-0 run to take the largest lead of the game at 58-48. A pair of free throws from Thomas and another shot from beyond the arch from Zihumo trimmed the lead to 62-55. With one minute remaining, Novkovic pulled up from three and drained a shot to trim the deficit to 62-58. Unfortunately, TAMIU ran out of time to complete the comeback and fell 63-58.

The two teams will face off one final time on Saturday, Jan. 16 as travel to Austin, Texas for the series finale.