TYLER, Texas –Texas A&M International men's basketball has seen its share of close contests in 2021-22 and had yet another, as they defeated UT Tyler in an overtime thriller, 70-66 to end a three-game skid.
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The Patriots (11-5, 3-4 LSC) held the early edge in the first half, opening the game with an 8-3 lead.
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The Dustdevils (10-5, 2-2 LSC) would respond to take a 9-8 after a run of 6-0.
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From there, the teams battled with UT Tyler holding the edge before growing its lead to eight points on two separate occasions.
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Over the final 6:19 of the half, TAMIU outscored the Patriots 13-5 to turn a 27-19 deficit into a 32-32 tie at the break.
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To open the second half, UT Tyler again used a quick spurt to gain a 40-35 lead, using a run of 8-3 just like the opening minutes of the first half.
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A 7-0 run by the Dustdevils followed, as the took a 42-40 lead. The run lasted nearly five minutes, stretching from 16:49 to 12:14 remaining.
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The teams then battled back and forth until the Patriots took a 50-46 lead with 9:16 remaining.
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TAMIU would again use another 6-0 run to regain the lead 51-50 with 6:09 remaining and then grow the lead to 55-52 at the under four-minute timeout that came with exactly four minutes remaining.
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Over the remaining minutes, UT Tyler fought back to tie the game 59-59. After drawing an offensive foul with 5.6 seconds remaining, the Dustdevils had one shot that rimmed out to send the game to overtime.
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In the overtime, a single free-throw by each side opened the scoring, before TAMIU went on a 4-1 run to open a 64-61 lead.
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With that lead intact under with 38 seconds to go, the Dustdevils added to its lead with free-throws to make it 66-61.
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In a flash, the Patriots trimmed the deficit to 66-64 with a three-pointer with 14.5 seconds remaining, TAMIU managed hold serve and won its first overtime game of the season in three tries in extra time.
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The Dustdevils would overcome a tough shooting night, going 19-for-55 (34.5%) from the floor and 6-for-25 (24%) from deep. The free-throw line won them the game, shooting 26-for-33 for the game
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On the other end, UT Tyler shot 23-for-56 (41.1%) from the field and 10-for-22 (45.5%) from three. However, the Patriots were just 10-for-19 from the charity stripe and turned the ball over 18 times to just 10 for TAMIU.
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Senior
Greg Bowie II led the charge, scoring 22 points, followed by freshman
Anthony Scott who had 14 points.
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Junior
La-Quiem Walker chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds with sophomore
Tyrese Davis adding eight points.
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TAMIU now looks to make it a winning streak, when they face Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday, Jan. 29. Opening tip is scheduled for 4 p.m. from Commerce, Texas.
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