FORT SMITH, Arkansas – Texas A&M International men's basketball was unable to hold off UAFS in a double overtime thriller, falling to the Lions 71-67 on Monday.

Scoring was limited on both ends throughout the game, as the score read 11-11 over the first 11:42 of the opening half.

Late first half, The Dustdevils (13-11, 6-10) would open a 27-16 lead, before the Lions (10-13, 6-11) would trim the deficit to just 27-20 heading into halftime.

Out of the break, TAMIU would use the first 7:04 of the second half to grow a 43-28 lead and still led by double digits as late as 4:11 left in the second half.

However, it was the Lions who over the final four minutes would hold TAMIU to just four points and use a 15-4 run during that stretch to tie the game.
 
UAFS opened the first overtime on a 6-2 run over the first 2:27 to take a 61-56 lead, but the Dustdevils scored a layup with 56 seconds left and sophomore Lonzo Rand hit a 3 with 12 seconds left to force a second overtime.
 
TAMIU gained a 67-63 lead after another Rand 3 with three minutes left in the second overtime, but the Lions didn't allow another field goal and ended the game on an 8-0 run to seal the win.  

For the game, TAMIU shot 41.8% (23-for-55) from the floor and were 7-for-20 (35.0%) from three. The Dustdevils did make 14 of 21 free throws.

On the other side, UAFS shot 41.3% (26-63) from the field, 4-for-15 (26.7%) from three and made 15 of 21 from the charity stripe.

Junior Tyrese Davis led the way offensively for TAMIU with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Freshman Bobby Torres scored 13 points and dished out four assists, sophomore Tiras Morton added 10 and Rand finished in double digits with 10. Senior Jermaine Drewey grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

TAMIU plays in its third-straight road game when it takes on DBU at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 9 in Dallas, Texas.