LAREDO, Texas – The St. Edward’s men’s basketball team lost to Texas A&M-International, 67-50, Thursday evening at the Kinesiology Building.

St. Edward’s (9-11, 1-7 HC) would trail by only five points, 35-30, with 17:25 left in the second half, before Texas A&M-International (17-4, 7-1 HC) went on a 19-4 run over the next nine minutes to extend the lead to an insurmountable 20 points.

Shimeek Johnson (Albany, N.Y./Fairfield) led the Hilltoppers with 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting, while Khaliq Gross (Albany, N.Y./South Plains JC) added nine points and seven rebounds.

The Hilltoppers will be back in action Saturday when they travel to take on St. Mary’s. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Bill Greehey Arena. Live coverage will be available on the Hilltopper and Rattler Athletic Websites.

As a member of NCAA Division II and the Heartland Conference, St. Edward’s, has captured 46 conference titles, advanced to the NCAA tournament 48 times and has produced 30 All-Americans and 24 Academic All-Americans since 1999.

Founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross, St. Edward's University is named among the top five "Up-and-Coming Universities" in the Western Region by its academic peers in a 2011 U.S. News & World Report survey. For eight consecutive years St. Edward's has been recognized as one of "America's Best Colleges" by U.S. News & World Report. St. Edward’s has also been named one of “America’s Best Colleges” by Forbes and the Center for College Affordability.

St. Edward's is a private, Catholic, liberal arts university of more than 5,400 students located in Austin, Texas. For more information on St. Edward’s University, visit http://www.stedwards.edu/athletics.