LAREDO, Texas – After successfully defeating Texas A&M-Kingsville in Lone Star Conference play on Saturday, Texas A&M International men's basketball had a non-conference rematch against the Javelinas, but this time it was TAMUK who came away victorious, 78-65.
 
Fresh off its their first victory against the Javelinas (9-3, 0-1 LSC) in 11 tries, the Dustdevils (10-3, 2-0 LSC), jumped ahead to an early 7-2 lead
 
TAMUK responded and took an 8-7 lead, before the two teams bounced back and forth much like Saturday's contest.
 
Tied at 19-19 with eight minutes left in the first half, the Javelinas outscored TAMIU 22-12 down the stretch to take a 41-31 lead into the locker room.
 
Out of the break, the Dustdevils opened on an 8-1 run to trim the deficit to 42-39. It was the closest TAMIU came to the Javelinas, who held a lead between five to seven points until TAMIU made it 65-61 with 4:05 remaining.
 
However, it was TAMUK who dominated down the stretch, outscoring the Dustdevils 13-4 to bring home the 78-65 victory.
 
On the night, TAMIU shot a superb 43.8% (21-for-48) from the floor, but were 5-for-19 from three and 18-for-30 from the free throw line.
 
The Javelinas, on the other hand, shot 48.1% (25-for-52), were just 3-for-15 from deep, but an exceptional 25-for-29 from the charity stripe.
 
Junior Jermaine Drewey led all Dustdevil scorers with 13 points to go alongside six rebounds.
 
Fellow junior Daniel Kiely was the only other TAMIU player to reach double figures with 10 points, three rebounds and four assists.
 
TAMIU returns to conference play on Thursday, Jan. 20 when they host Oklahoma Christian. Tip-off from the TAMIU KCB is slated for 7:30 p.m.