LAREDO, Texas – Texas A&M International men's basketball tipped off the 2021-22 home schedule in a matchup against Southwestern Adventist on Monday night. In the end, it was the Dustdevils (3-0, 0-0 LSC), taking down the Knights, 79-41, to give TAMIU its first 3-0 start since the 2007-08 season.
 
The 38-point victory for the Dustdevils is the largest margin of victory they've had since defeating Paul Quinn College by 51 points on Nov. 30, 2017.
 
TAMIU was aggressive early and was off to a fast start in the game, leading 37-15 after the first 20 minutes.
 
The Dustdevils jumped ahead 9-2 early before the Knights cut the deficit to two. At 14:54, TAMIU began a sizable run of 17-1 to open up a 26-8 lead and that run lasted until 4:41 remaining in the half.
 
The first half numbers were largely in favor of the Dustdevils, who shot 43% from the floor and 3-8 from deep. Free throw woes did continue however, as the team went 2-8.
 
The second half was much of the same, TAMIU keeping the pressure and using runs and quality defense to solidify the victory.
 
On the night, the Dustdevils shot 43.2% (32-74) and 5-20 from distance. The free throw percentage ended at 52.6% in large part thanks to 8-11 in the second half. They forced 23 Knights turnovers, outrebounded them 47-27 and outscored SWAU 50-13 in the paint.
 
Southwestern Adventist ended the game shooting 34.8% (16-46), 4-15 from three and 5-12 from the charity strip.
 
Junior La-Quiem Walker led the team going 11-13 from the floor, scoring 24 points with four rebounds in just 19 minutes.
 
Senior Greg Bowie II also reached double figures with 14 points and four rebounds. Sophomore Keldrick Hayes Jr. off the bench scored eight points to go with a game high 10 rebounds.
 
TAMIU will look to continue its winning ways when they return to the court on Saturday, Nov. 20. The Dustdevils have a second consecutive home game and host Huston Tillotson at 3:30 p.m.