ADA, OKLAHOMA – Behind Derrell Blackburn’s (Arlington/Covenant Christian HS) career high 19 points, the Texas A&M-Kingsville men’s basketball team cruised to a 78-69 win at Lone Star Conference North Division rival East Central University on Saturday.  (box score)

The Javelinas (10-5) held a 14-13 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the first half when Blackburn caught fire.  He drained four three-pointers during the remainder of the half and the Javs went into halftime with a 44-28 lead.  Senior point guard Wendell Mulkey (San Antonio/East Central HS) dished out six of his nine assists in the final 8:09 of the half to get the offense rolling.

In the second half, the Javs bumped their lead to as many as 25 points before the Tigers (4-10) made a late run, but never got closer than nine points.

Once again, the Javs took excellent care of the ball committing just 10 turnovers while dishing out 17 assists.  Blackburn finished the game by knocking down a career-high 5-of-8 three-point attempts while playing a career-high 30 minutes.  Three other Javelinas scored in double figures.  Robert Williams (Dallas/Kimball HS) had 15 points and six rebounds despite being limited to 19 minutes of action due to foul trouble.  Royce Gaye (Houston/Klein HS) added 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench and Chip Jones (Fort Worth, TX/University of Houston) added 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks off the bench.

The Javs shot 51.6 percent from the floor thanks to Blackburn, Gaye and Kimball’s hot shooting.  The team went 8-for-20 from three-point range, but did struggle from the foul line making 6-of-12 attempts. 

The Tigers got a 20 point effort from Tyler Thetford who went 6-of-11 from the field while draining a trio of three-pointers.  Justin Wilkerson posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.  Cory Nicholson came off the bench to contribute 16 points and six boards.  The Tigers pulled down 11 more rebounds than the Javs, but committed eight more turnovers.  ECU shot 43.5 percent from the field, made 5-of-15 three-pointers and was 10-of-19 at the foul line.

The Javelinas start LSC South Division play on Wednesday night at Tarleton State.  Tip-off is scheduled for 8 o’clock.
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