KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – The Texas A&M-Kingsville men’s basketball moved one step closer to getting back to the Lone Star Conference Tournament with a 76-64 victory over Cameron on Thursday night at Kingsville Hampton Inn Court.
The Javelinas (11-13, 6-9) and Aggies (13-8, 9-6) were engaged in back-and-forth game in the first half that turned into a route in the second half. The Aggies led for the majority of the first half thanks to nine straight points from Milton Garner. They took a 31-30 lead into halftime after Thomas Razor’s jumper as with two seconds left in the half.
In the second half, the Javelinas outscored the Aggies, 32-9 in the first 13 minutes of the half. Freshman Raymond Robinson (Corpus Christi/West Oso HS) opened the scoring with a lay-up and a three-pointer. Then, Marcus Ford (Colorado Springs, CO/Mesa Ridge HS) threw down an alley-oop dunk and followed it with a conventional three-point play. The Hoggies still held a 20-point lead with 1:21 remaining before the Aggies put together a late run to close to within 12 points.
The Javelinas shot 54.2 percent from the field, made 7-of-19 from three-point range and were 17-for-25 at the foul line. Ford led the team with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and made 3-of-4 from three-point range. Ashton Brown (Randolph, NY/Central HS) and Ryan Layssard (Opelousas, LA/Opelousas HS) each had 12 points and four rebounds. Layssard dished out six assists while Brown went 9-for-10 from the foul line, although his consecutive free throws streak was snapped at 42. Robinson finished with 10 points while Marshall Bonds III (Little Rock, AR/Mills HS) had six points, five rebounds and five assists.
The Javelinas grabbed seven more rebounds than the Aggies, but committed three more turnovers.
The Aggies shot 46.4 percent from the field, made 4-of-16 from three-point range and were 8-for-10 from the foul line. Razor led the team with 16 points while Garner had 12 points.
The Javelinas are back in action on Saturday at home against Midwestern State at 3 p.m.
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