Laredo, Texas – Texas A&M International men's basketball defeated Texas A&M Kingsville 48-45 at home on Saturday after Mike Rivera recorded a double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Both defense started out strong, with teams struggling to score. After five minutes, the Dustdevils (6-5, 2-3 LSC) held a 5-3 lead thanks to a dunk from Rivera.

The teams continued to trade baskets back-and-forth as TAMIU stretched its lead to 10-7 by the halfway point of the first half.

The Dustdevils started to find their offense and went on a 14-8 run capped by a 3-pointer from Jeremiah Washington with 4:45 left in the first to stretch the lead to 24-15.

But, the Javelinas (2-8, 0-5 LSC) closed the half on a 10-4 run to close the gap to 28-25.

Both teams scored four points in the opening five minutes of the second half including a layup from Emaniel Alexandre to make the score 32-29.

TAMUK made a 6-3 run over the next five minutes to close the gap to 36-35 with 10:50 remaining in the game.

Neither team gained any separation and with 4:21 seconds left in the game, TAMUK took a 40-38 lead.

But, Rivera hit a 3 with just under four minutes left to give his team the lead and the Dustdevils never trailed the rest of the way with Jaylen Thompson sealing the victory with a layup with 10 seconds remaining.

Alexandre finished the game with seven points, John Achebe added six and Thompson finished with five. Matthew Okoye dished out a team-high four assists.

TAMIU scored 30 points off the bench compared to just eight for the Javelinas.

The Dustdevils will be in action next at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 4 at home against St. Edward's.