KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – The Texas A&M-Kingsville men’s basketball team battled Northeastern State University for 40 minutes and came away with a 58-54 victory on Monday night.  (box score)

The Javelinas (8-5) and RiverHawks (3-9) each played excellent defense in the first half.  The Javs managed to gradually take a lead and held a 19-11 advantage with 6:24 left in the first half.  The Hoggies would not score for the next 3:48 and NSU buried three three-pointers to take their only lead of the game.  It was short lived as Royce Gaye (Houston/Klein HS) scored on a conventional three-point play to give the Javs back a lead the would not relinquish.

The Hogs took a 27-22 lead into the halftime break.  The two teams each shot under 35 percent from the field in the half.

In the second half, the Javelinas used an early 8-0 run to take an 11 point lead.  The team still held a nine point lead with 8:16 remaining after a Flavio Milam (Killeen/Ellison HS) jumper.

The RiverHawks closed to within one point on two separate occasions late in the game.  First, Aaron Arango drained a three-pointer with 1:38 to play, but the Javs answered with two free throws by Clyde Johnson (San Antonio/Judson HS).  Arango came back with a jumper to make the score 55-54 A&M-Kingsville.

On their next possession, Milam was fouled and made 1-of-2 free throws for the Javs.  The Javs defense made one final stop as Gaye tied up Arango and the Hoggies got the ball back on the alternate possession.  Derrell Blackburn (Arlington/Covington Christian HS) clinched the game when he made two free throws with seven seconds to play.

The Javs were led by Robert Williams (Dallas/Kimball HS) who had 16 points and eight rebounds.  Milam finished the game with 11 points while Wendell Mulkey (San Antonio/East Central HS) dished out six assists.  Blackburn finished with a season high eight points off the bench.  The team shot 37.2 percent from the field, made 4-of-10 three-pointers and went 22-of-31 from the foul line.  The Javs committed only seven turnovers in the game while forcing 12.

The RiverHawks had three players score in double figures.  Ricky Branham led the team with 17 points off the bench while draining 4-of-5 three-point attempts.  Arango finished with 14 points while Ja’Mal Stewart had 11 points and 11 rebounds.  The team shot 41.3 percent from the field made 8-of-18 three-pointers, but went 8-for-16 from the foul line.

The Javs are back in action on Thursday night at 8 o’clock at Southeastern Oklahoma.
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