The University of Texas of the Permian Basin men's basketball team nearly rebounded after having a tough time shutting down a hot Texas A&M International offense Saturday afternoon in dropping an 81-72 game in Laredo, Texas.

The Dustdevils shot over 60 percent for much of the first 30 minutes while hitting seven of its first 10 3-pointers.

The Falcons, however, stepped up their defense in cutting the Dustdevils lead down from 18 at 59-41 with 11:22 remaining in the game down to just four points on a Rob Heyer 3-pointer with just under a minute remaining. UTPB held TAMIU scoreless on its next six 3-point attempts and got the score down to single digits with 7:37 left as UTPB scored eight in a row, with the last six points coming on free throws.

Keith Martin brought the margin to within six with a jumper at 6:35 and scored two more points on a pair of free throws to bring the score to 62-58 with five and a half minutes left.

Texas A&M International pulled its lead back up to eight points and led by as many as nine with over two minutes remaining, but UTPB came back with a free throw and a basket by Anthony Dees just before Heyer made it a four-point game.

The Dustdevils closed out the game at the free throw line, hitting their final eight attempts in wrapping up the nine point win.

Xavier Martin led four Falcon players in double digits with 14 points, hitting 7-of-10 attempts at the line. Madison Turner and Dees added 13 points each and Keith Martin contributed 11.

Matthew Culliver, Jr. led all players with 22 points on the night, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out five assists. 

The Falcons are back in action in two days, hosting Arlington Baptist Monday night at 6 p.m.