UAFS' combination of hot shooting and stifling defense proved to be too much for the Texas A&M Dustdevils to handle during Thursday night at the Kinesiology and Convocation Building in Laredo, Texas.

The Lions shot a sizzling 60 percent from the field and turned 21 Dustdevils turnovers into 22 points on their way to a convincing 83-57 Heartland Conference road win.

It was the first conference road win of the season for the Lions (8-11, 2-5), who snapped a three-game losing streak. It was the second loss in a row for the Dustdevils (5-12, 2-4), who had won two in a row prior to their loss to the Newman Jets on Saturday.

UAFS made 25 of 42 shots from the field – it was 8-of-22 shooting from 3-point range – and made 25 of 34 shots at the free-throw line. Junior guard Tyler Williams scored a team-high 22 points, while junior guard Seth Hawley had 20 points – four 3-pointers – and senior guard Chris Crawford and freshman forward David Ward had 10 points apiece.

Ward and Crawford have five assists apiece accounting for most of the Lions' 14 assists. Ward also had a team-high five rebounds.

Traditionally, the Kinesiology and Convocation Center has been one of the toughest venues for the Lions to play in during their 10-year history in the conference, but their 26-point margin of victory was the second-largest the season behind a 31-point win against Hendrix College.

UAFS held Texas A&M International to just 39-percent shooting from the field (22 of 56) – the Dustdevils were just 4-of-23 shooting from 3-point range – and Texas A&M International shot only 64 percent from the free-throw line (9 of 14).

Guard Xabier Gomez led the Dustdevils with 24 points, and forward Steven Colanges had 16 points. Center Damon Leach had 10 rebounds to help the Dustdevils out-rebound the Lions by 11 rebounds (32-21). The Dustdevils had 15 offensive rebounds that led to 10 second-chance points.

Of the Dustdevils' 21 turnovers, more than half (12) came on steals by the Lions. Crawford and Hawley each had four steals apiece.

It was the first game of a brief two-game road trip for the Lions. UAFS will look to sweep the road stint at 3 p.m. on Saturday when it plays the St. Mary's Rattlers at Bill Greehey Arena in San Antonio, Texas.
 
MEN
HEARTLAND CONFERENCE
UAFS 83, TEXAS A&M INTERNATIONAL 57
UAFS                                      40        43        --          83
Texas A&M International         35        22        --          57
UAFS (8-11, 2-5): Williams 22, Hawley 20, Crawford 10, Ward 10, Boyer 6, Parker 4, Morgan 4, Bowie 3, Ekezie 2, Sivins 2
Texas A&M International (5-12, 2-4): Gomez 24, Coulanges 16, Finn 8, Johnson 3, Leach 2, Spinuzza 2, Higgins 2