WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS – For the second straight game, the Texas A&M-Kingsville men’s basketball team had a chance to knock off a top 25 opponent with a late three-pointer. Unfortunately, the potential go-ahead three-pointer was off the mark and #23 Midwestern State held on for a 72-68 win in Lone Star Conference action on Saturday night.
The exciting game featured 11 lead changes and five ties in all. The Javelinas (6-6, 1-3) had two opportunities to take the lead in the final minute after Marcus Ford (Colorado Springs, CO/Mesa Ridge HS) knocked down a three-pointer with 1:14 remaining to make it 70-68 Mustangs (9-0, 4-0). First, the Hoggies got a defensive stop and Ford missed a three-pointer with 41 seconds left. The Mustangs got the rebound, but turned the ball over. Ford had another chance to put the Hogs on top, but his attempt was off the mark. MSU grabbed the rebound and Michael Loyd iced the game with a pair of free throws.
In the first half, the Mustangs rode the hot hand of Anthony Harris who scored 12 straight points for the team at one point to give them a 26-19 lead with six minutes left in the half. The Javelinas responded with a 13-0 run over the next 5:20 as Ashton Brown (Randolph, NY/Central HS) poured in 12 of his team-high 23 points and they took a 34-28 lead into halftime.
The Javelinas kept rolling at the beginning of the second half as a 9-0 run gave them a 46-35 lead with 16:48 remaining. The Mustangs quickly got back in the game with back-to-back three-pointers by Michael Loyd and Keonte Logan.
Late in the second half, fouls started to take a toll on the Javelinas as the Mustangs were able to continually get to the foul line. They scored 18 of their final 26 points at the charity stripe as the Hogs were whistled for 20 second half fouls.
For the first time this year, the Javelinas struggled at the foul line making only 15-of-31 attempts after entering the game shooting over 77 percent for the season.
The Javelinas shot 49.0 percent from the field and made 5-of-20 three-point attempts. Brown led the team with 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field while Robert Williams (Dallas/Kimball HS) added 15 points and four boards. Ryan Layssard (Opelousas, LA/Opelousas HS) had nine points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench. The team had 35 rebounds and committed 17 turnovers.
The Mustangs shot 32.8 percent from the field, made 4-of-20 from three-point range and were 30-for-42 at the foul line. Harris led all players with 33 points and eight rebounds. He was 7-of-16 from the field and 17-of-23 from the foul line. JaMichael Rivers was the team’s second-leading scorer with nine points. The team had 44 rebounds and committed 12 turnovers.
The Javelinas are back in action on Monday at 8 p.m. at Cameron University.
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