LAREDO, TEXAS – A late foul charged to Texas A&M-Kingsville proved to be the deciding play in a 75-71 loss to UT-Permian Basin on Friday night at Texas A&M-International’s Kinesiology Building.

The Javelinas (0-1) fought back from a 71-64 deficit in the final two minutes of the game to tie the score at 71-all on a Ryan Layssard (Opelousas, LA/Opelousas HS) free throw with 47 seconds remaining. Falcon (1-0) guard Elijah Jordan was fouled on a three-point attempt with 19 seconds left and drained all three free throws.

The Javelinas went for the quick two-point bucket, but missed the shot. Louis Crane grabbed the rebound for the Falcons and was fouled. He made one free throw to ice the game.

The Javelinas shot 40 percent from the field, made 10-of-24 from three-point range and were 17-of-23 from the foul line. They had four players score in double figures with senior Robert Williams (Dallas/Kimball HS) leading the way with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Ashton Brown (Randolph, NY/Central HS) added 13 points and went 5-for-5 from the foul line. Derryl Nash (Austin/Elgin HS) added 12 points off the bench as he went 4-for-9 from three-point range and Marcus Ford (Colorado Springs, CO/Mesa Ridge HS) scored 10 points and grabbed six boards. Layssard scored eight points and dished out five assists.

The Falcons shot 43.9 percent from the field, made 7-of-23 from three-point range and were 18-of-26 from the foul line. Jordan led all players with 25 points and was 10-for-10 from the foul line. Branden Harrison came off the bench to score 17 points. Mike Akins contributed eight points and grabbed a team high seven rebounds.

The Javelinas pulled down five more rebounds than the Falcons, but committed four more turnovers.

The Hoggies are back in action on Saturday at Texas A&M-International at 4 p.m.
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