SILVER CITY, N.M. –Texas A&M International men's basketball kept their postseason hopes alive, with a 70-67 victory over Western New Mexico to open a three game road trip on Monday.
 
Like many of its games this season, TAMIU (13-12, 5-9 LSC) was in a defensive slugfest in the opening half, with the score being just 31-30 at the half.
 
Neither team held a lead larger than three points, which was the largest of the half by both squads.
 
The score read 4-2 in favor of the Dustdevils at the under 16-minute media timeout and was tied 12-12 at the under 12-minute timeout.
 
The entire half, the teams were trading baskets back and forth with TAMIU holding a three-point edge three times and the Mustangs (11-13, 4-9 LSC) holding that edge once.
 
Western New Mexico did use a late 4-0 run to hold the lead at the break.
 
Out of halftime, the teams continued to trade scores, until the Dustdevils took a game high lead of seven points with 13:59 remaining to make it 49-42.
 
The Mustangs countered, however, with a 9-1 run to regain the edge at 51-50 and grew that to as many as three, with 7:11 remaining to lead 57-54.
 
A 10-2 run followed by TAMIU to take a 64-59 lead, one it would never relinquish as they worked the clock and went 6-for-6 at the free-throw line to close out the victory.
 
In the victory, the Dustdevils shot 24-for-56 (42.9%) from the floor, 8-for-22 (36.4%) from behind the arc and a stellar 16-for-18 (88.9%) from the free-throw line.
 
On the other end, Western New Mexico shot 39.2%, going 20-for-51 from the field and 7-for-19 (36.8%) from deep, as well as 21-for-24 from the charity stripe.
 
Junior La-Quiem Walker led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds, while senior Greg Bowie II and junior Jermaine Drewey added 13 points each.
 
Freshman Tiras Morton also scored double figures with 11 points, six rebounds, one block and two steals, while junior Daniel Kiely contributed five rebounds and nine assists with his two points.
 
TAMIU looks to use the road victory as momentum, looking to keep their LSC Tournament hopes alive when they face Cameron on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. in Lawton, Okla.