Kingsville – Texas A&M-Kingsville didn’t score a point in the final 4:28 while St. Mary’s closed the game on a 9-0 run to hand the Javelinas their first loss of the season, 48-43 at Kleberg Bank Court.  Click here for stats.

   The loss dropped the Javelinas to 5-1 while St. Mary’s improved to 4-3.

   Wendell Mulkey was the only Javelina in double figures with 10 points while Reggie Love had nine and Dominick Jones and Juan Lanauze each added seven.

   Latez Williams led the Rattlers with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

   “We ran out of gas,” said Javelina coach Pete Peterson. “We had our opportunities in the first half and blew it. We should have been up 15. We couldn’t keep the pressure on them and just missed some shots.”

   The Javelinas had a seven-point halftime lead, but that was gone halfway through the second half as the Rattlers held the Javelinas to just 3 of 11 shooting in the first 10 minutes and out-rebounded them by nine boards to tie the game at 32.

   A&M-Kingsville bounced back, scoring seven of the next nine points to lead by five, 39-34 with 6:51 remaining.

   But Mulkey’s layup with 4:28 left in the game were the last points the Javelinas would score.

   St. Mary’s hit five of seven free throws in the final 36 seconds to seal the victory.

   The Javelinas shot just under 36 percent for the game, made only 2 of 13 3-point shots and 3 of 13 free throws and were out-rebounded 47-31.

   The Javelinas put the defensive clamps on the Rattlers in the first half, allowing a season-low 18 points and holding St. Mary’s to just under 27 percent shooting on the way to a 25-18 halftime advantage.

   Mulkey had another great all-around half, scoring six points, dishing out two assists, blocking two shots and coming up with a steal to lead the Hogs.

   The Javelinas led the entire first half, jumping out to a 6-0 lead and closing with a 6-2 run in the final two and a half minutes.

   The Hogs led at the half despite being out-rebounded 25-17, missing all six 3-point shots and hitting only 3 of 9 free throws.

   A&M-Kingsville travels to #13 Southwestern Oklahoma Thursday.