LAREDO, Texas –Texas A&M International men's basketball battled to the end, but ended its home schedule on the losing end, falling to Midwestern State 66-61.
 
Scoring was at a minimum early in the contest, as the score read just 2-2 at the under 16-minute media timeout and 14-10 in favor of the Mustangs (12-14, 8-6 LSC) at the under 12-minute media timeout that came at the 9:08 remaining mark.
 
The lead after the media break grew to 20-10 at the time as Midwestern State used a 9-0 run to get there, but the Dustdevils (12-12, 4-9 LSC) were able to counter with a 12-2 run to tie the game 22-22 with 3:14 remaining.
 
The Mustangs would score six of the last nine points in the half and take a small 28-25 lead into the locker room.
 
Out of halftime, the TAMIU deficit grew to seven points in the opening four minutes, and the Dustdevils were stuck playing catch up, finally doing so with 9:29 remaining, tying the game at 43-43.
 
The teams traded baskets over the next couple minutes, but the Mustangs got the stops needed to reopen a six-point edge of 57-51 with 5:30 left.
 
TAMIU cut the deficit to two, 61-59 with 1:35 remaining, but it was the closest they could come as Midwestern State would hold on for the win.
 
In the loss, the Dustdevils shot 19-for-53 (35.8%) from the floor, 4-for-22 (18.2%) from behind the arc and 19-for-26 (73.1%) from the free-throw line.
 
On the other end, the Mustangs shot 51.1%, going 24-for-47 from the field and 7-for-17 (41.2%) from deep, as well as 11-for-15 from the charity stripe.
 
Freshman Journee Phillips led TAMIU in scoring, off the bench, with 16 points.
 
Junior La-Quiem Walker followed with 12 points and four rebounds, while senior Greg Bowie II added 11 points.
 
TAMIU closes the season with a three game road trip that begins on Monday, Feb. 21 in Silver City, N.M. against Western New Mexico in a make-up game for the originally scheduled contest on Jan. 9. Opening tip is slated for 8 p.m. CST/7 p.m. MST.