KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – The Texas A&M-Kingsville men’s basketball team dropped their second game of the week to Lone Star Conference rival Incarnate Word on Saturday, 59-55 at Kingsville Hampton Inn Court.

The Javelinas (8-9, 4-6) held a 47-42 lead with 7:30 remaining in the game and had the ball, but were unable to put the Cardinals (10-7, 5-4) away. A quick 7-0 run by the visitors put them back into the game. The Javs last led at 50-49 after a Robert Williams (Dallas/Kimball HS) with 4:09 remaining, but they would go scoreless over the next two minutes along the Cards to take a 4-point lead.

The Cardinal lead was as many as eight points in the final minute, but the Javelinas still had a chance when they had the ball with 14 seconds remaining down by four points. Unfortunately, they were unable score before the final buzzer sounded.

The Javelinas shot a season low 33.3 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from the foul line. The Cardinals defense harassed them into tough shots all game long. Ryan Layssard (Opelousas, LA/Opelousas HS) led the team with 12 points, five assists and three steals while Marcus Ford (Colorado Springs, CO/Mesa Ridge HS) added 12 points. Derryl Nash (Austin/Elgin HS) came off the bench to fire in 11 points and grab six boards while Williams finished with nine points and nine rebounds. The Javs forced 20 turnovers while committing 15.

The Cardinals shot 39.3 percent from the field, made 1-of-11 from three-point range and were 14-of-19 at the charity stripe. Once again, Dionelle Rucker led the team with 18 points off the bench to go along with eight boards and two assists. Ian Markolf had 10 points and eight rebounds while altering a number of shots on defense. Shaun Umeh and Chris Johnson each added nine points. The Cards pulled down three more rebounds than the Hogs.

The Javelinas are back in action on Monday at St. Mary’s at 7:30 p.m. This is a rematch from November 28 when the Rattlers won 77-76 on a last second shot.
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