SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Texas A&M International men's basketball used a late second half offensive explosion to re-enter the win column, defeating St. Mary's 78-67.
 
The Rattlers (2-5, 0-0 LSC) held the early edge in the first half, leading the Dustdevils (8-2, 0-0 LSC) 13-3 over the first 7:40.
 
TAMIU, however, responded with a 14-0 run that lasted from 12:01 remaining to 7:17 to take a 17-13 lead.
 
The Dustdevil lead grew to 25-19 with just over four minutes remaining, but St. Mary's finished the half with an 11-5 spurt to take a 30-29 lead into the break.
 
Early in the second half, the Dustdevils tied the game 32-32, but the Rattlers were the ones to take a nine-point lead that it held with 9:45 remaining, 54-45.
 
From that point on it was all TAMIU. Over the remaining 9:04, the Dustdevils went on an offensive explosion, outscoring St. Mary's 33-13 down the stretch to take the 78-67 victory.
 
On the afternoon, the Dustdevils shot 43.9% (25-for-57) from the floor and 38.1% (8-for-21) from deep and 71.4% (20-for-28) from the charity stripe.
 
The Rattlers finished the contest shooting 48.1% (26-for-54) from the field, 42.1% (8-for-19) from three, but were just 7-for-14 from the free throw line.
 
TAMIU dominated the glass, out-rebounding St. Mary's 42-25, while also outscoring the Rattlers in points off turnovers (21-11) and in second chance points (14-5).
 
Three Dustdevils finished in double figures, with junior Jermaine Drewey leading the charge with 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting and 5-for-8 from three, to go alongside four rebounds.
 
Senior Greg Bowie II followed behind with 21 points and four assists, while junior La-Quiem Walker scored 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting with eight rebounds.
 
Freshman Tiras Morton was a spark off the bench, scoring five points, 11 rebounds, a block and two steals.
 
TAMIU now had the Christmas break ahead of them and return to the floor for their first Lone Star Conference matchup of the season. Eastern New Mexico comes to Laredo on New Year's Eve, Dec. 31 for a 5 p.m. tip.