KINGSVILLE, Texas – Texas A&M International men's basketball came just short of a double-digit comeback, falling to Texas A&M Kingsville, 71-68 on Thursday.

It was back and forth early on with neither team being able to gain separation. The Dustdevils (17-12, 10-10 LSC) trailed 14-10 with 10:40 left in the first half. 

The Javelinas (20-9, 14-7) tried to gain some separation and went on a 13-6 run over the next 5:50 to take a 27-16 lead. 

Texas A&M Kingsville led 32-23 at halftime. 

The Javelinas continued to roll out of halftime and led 40-28 with 17:12 left in the game. 

TAMIU found its offensive groove and went on a 12-3 run over the next 4:30 to cut the lead to 43-40. 

The Dustdevils battled for the rest of the game, cutting the lead down to one point on three separate occasions and never trailing by more than eight. But, Texas A&M Kingsville went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes to seal the game. 

With 1:02 left, TAMIU made it a 67-65 game, but the Javelinas hit two free throws and the Dustdevils missed their final two field goals. 

The Dustdevils shot just 42.9% for the game, going 21-for-49 from the floor, but struggled behind the arc, going just 5-for-13. The Dustdevils went 21-for-30 from the charity stripe.

On the other side, Texas A&M Kingsville finished 14-for-44 (31.8%) from the floor and 4-for-9 (44.4%) from three. The Javelinas made 39 of 45 attempts.

TAMIU was led in scoring by sophomore Tiras Morton with 17 points, six rebounds, and three assists. 

Graduate student Greg Bowie II scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds, sophomore Lonzo Rand added 13 points and sophomore Olaverr Camacho grabbed 13 rebounds and scored eight points. 

The Dustdevils wrap up the regular season at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25 at home in a rematch against Texas A&M Kingsville. TAMIU currently sits in ninth place in the conference with the top eight teams making the conference tournament. They are one game behind DBU who sits in eighth place.