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The University of Texas of the Permian Basin men's basketball team trailed by as many as 23 in the second half, but pulled within five with under a minute to play but it wasn't meant to be as Texas A&M International took a 65-59 victory. 
 
The contest, which opened Heartland Conference play, was dominated early by the Dustdevils, who improved to 11-3 on the year.  TAMIU opened the game with a 7-0 run before Branden Harrison finally put the Falcons on the board with 16:10 to go in the first. 
 
Nothing seemed to go right in the first period for the Falcons, which shot 25.8 percent in the period were out-rebounded 29-16.  UTPB did however make all four of its free throw attempts in the first and finished the game by hitting 16-of-19 from the charity stripe. 
 
The second half started much like the first as the Dustdevils opened with a 13-0 run and held the Falcons scoreless for the first 6:34.  Jalen Jarrett finally broke the drought with a layup to make it 47-26.  Jarrett's bucket was the start of a 17-10 run that pulled UTPB within four (57-53) with 2:33 to play after Harrison made another layup for two of his team-high 13 points. 
 
The teams would exchange buckets for the for the final two minutes of the game until the Dustdevils made four of their final six free throws to seal the victory. 
 
UTPB fell to 6-7 on the year and 0-1 in Heartland Conference play.  The Falcons will remain at home when they host St. Mary's at noon in the Falcon Dome.