KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – Monday night started like a dream for the Texas A&M-Kingsville men’s basketball team, but ended in with a nightmare. Visiting St. Mary’s came all the way back from a 23-point second half deficit to pull off a 77-76 win at Kingsville Hampton Inn Court.
The Javelinas (5-3) took a 17:27 remaining in the first half and did not trail again until 5.6 seconds remained in the game. In between, junior guard Ashton Brown (Randolph, NY/Central HS) put on a shooting clinic scoring 32 points in the first 26 minutes of the game knocking down six three-pointers. His last trifecta gave the Javs a 65-46 lead with 14:06 remaining in the game.
The Rattlers (3-1) were able to take advantage of their strength in numbers. With starting point guard Ryan Layssard (Opelousas, LA/Opelousas HS) out with an injury, the Javs were short-handed. The Rattlers wore them down with their pressure defense and it took effect midway through the second half.
After Brown’s final three-pointer, the Rattlers responded with a 14-0 run over the next 3:47. The Javs pushed the lead back to 10 points thanks to a pair of buckets by Robert Williams (Dallas/Kimball HS), but the Rattlers pulled to within two points after an 8-0 run.
The Javelinas still led by six points with under a minute to play, but nothing went right the rest of the way. First, Ray Marshall’s conventional three-point play cut the lead to 76-73 with 54 seconds left and then, the Hoggies took a timeout they did not have leading to a technical foul. Autrey Lamb made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to make it a two-point game. The Javs turned it over with 31 seconds remaining which set up the final moments of the game.
Rattler center Kevin Kotzur was fouled with 12 seconds remaining and he made the first free throw, but missed the second. Kotzur was given a chance at redemption when Marshall grabbed the rebound and threw up an off-balanced shot that Kotzur was able to grab and lay in for the go-ahead bucket with 5.8 seconds left. Brown’s desperation three-point try came up short for the Javelinas.
The Javelinas shot 62.5 percent from the field in the first half and 30.8 percent in the second half. They went 9-for-21 from three-point range and were 11-for-15 at the foul line. Brown scored 32 points for the second straight game on 10-of-19 shooting from the field. He added five assists, four rebounds and three steals in 39 minutes of action. Williams finished with 18 points, four rebounds and three steals. The team had 15 turnovers and 13 steals.
The Rattlers shot 50.8 percent from the field, made 5-of-18 from three-point range and were 12-for-17 from the foul line. They grabbed 20 more rebounds as a team than the Hoggies. Kotzur had a double-double with 29 points and 12 rebounds as he went 12-for-16 from the field. Daryell Taylor had 16 points and six boards while Lamb had 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists. The Rattlers committed 20 turnovers, but still outscored the Javelinas, 22-17 in points off turnovers.
The Javelinas are back in action on Thursday at 8 p.m. on IBC Bank Pack the House Night in their Lone Star Conference home opener against Eastern New Mexico.
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