LAREDO, Texas - Texas A&M International men's basketball snapped a two-game losing skid on Thursday night at home with a 57-48 win over UT Tyler. The Dustdevils outscored the Patriots 17-8 in the final 9:42.

UT Tyler (8-5, 4-5 LSC) started the game out on a 17-10 run over the first 12 minutes of the contest, but TAMIU (10-7, 3-6 LSC) battled back and a layup by junior Mike Rivera with just under two minutes left in the first half gave the Dustdevils the lead.

The Patriots hit a jumper with 30 seconds left to take a 26-24 lead into halftime.

Neither team gained much separation through the majority of the second half. It remained a one-possession game until sophomore Tiras Morton hit a jumper in the paint with six minutes left to stretch the lead to six. 

UT Tyler hit a three with 2:35 left to cut the lead to 49-46, but junior John Achebe scored on a layup the next trip down the court and TAMIU didn't trail by less than five the final two minutes.

Senior Shea Rax converted a pair of from the charity stripe with 21 seconds left to give The Dustdevils a 10-point lead, their largest of the game.

TAMIU had three players finish in double digits. Morton and Senior Jermaine Drewey led the team with 13 points each and Rax added 10. Morton recorded a double-double, grabbing 13 rebounds.

The Dustdevils dominated in the paint, scoring 30 points, compared to just 16 for UT Tyler. They also scored eight second-chance points and 15 points off the bench.

TAMIU shot 21-of-41 (51.2%) from the field and 4-of-11 (36.4%) from behind the arc. UT Tyler shot 17-of-54 (31.5%) from the field and 4-of-21 (19.0%) from deep.

TAMIU is in action next at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14 at home against DBU (10-7, 5-4 LSC).