KINGSVILLE – Angelo State scored the final eight points of the game to beat the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas 56-54 at Kleberg Bank Court.  Click here for stats.

            The Javelinas fell to 16-10 and 5-6 in LSC South Division play while the Rams improved to 16-10 and 5-6 in the LSC South.

   The loss denied the Javelinas a chance to clinch a spot in next week’s Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament.  Now the Javelinas must win on the road at Abilene Christian to get a postseason bid.

            After going down by two, 44-42, the Javelinas went on a 12-4 run to go up by six, 54-48 on a Naquawn Lee layup with just a little over five minutes left to play. Lee’s layup would be the last points the Hogs would score the rest of the night.

            “They played good defense and the shots wouldn’t go down,” head coach Pete Peterson said. “We knew it was going to be super intense in that situation and it was. We just couldn’t get them to drop.”

            Senior Juan Lanuaze led the Hogs with 10 points.

            Lanuaze, fellow senior Reggie Love, Wendell Mulkey and Adan Mantalvo each had four rebounds for the Javelinas.

             Love also had three steals for the Javelinas while Mulkey also had three assists and two steals.

            Senior Stephen Story had five points and a rebound for A&M-Kingsville.

            Marcus Hubbard had a double-double for Angelo State with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Hubbard also had three steals to go along with his double-double effort.

            Denell Stephens had 16 points to lead the Rams while Derrick Webster added in 10.

            The Javelinas were outrebounded 45-30 and lost two crucial rebounds after missed Ram free throws that could have given the team another chance for the win.

            Neither team shot well during the game. The Rams shot 37 percent and 12 percent from three-point range while the Hogs shot 33 percent and 15 percent from beyond the three-point arc.

            The Rams opened up a 10 point lead, 19-9, on a Hubbard three-pointer with just less than nine minutes left to play in the first half.

            A&M-Kingsville immediately came back with a 19-6 run of their own to take a 28-25 lead on a Lee three-point play with a little less than two minutes left until halftime.

            Mulkey had the first six points for the Hogs during the run.

            The Javelinas went into the intermission up 28-26 despite shooting 36 percent and attempting only one free throw in the initial half.

            “We had our chances in the first half and we should have put a lead on these guys,” Peterson said.

            The Javelinas will close out their regular season on Saturday when they travel to face the Abilene Christian Wildcats at 4 p.m.