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KINGSVILLE, Texas (Men's Basketball) – The Javelina faithful were in store for a real treat on Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers night at Gil H. Steinke Physical Education Center-Kingsville Hampton Inn Court as Texas A&M University-Kingsville (6-12, 1-5 LSC) nearly upset No. 23/20 Midwestern State University (16-4, 5-1 LSC), falling to the nationally-ranked Mustangs, 75-71, on Saturday evening.
 
Duan Wright made a strong case for ESPN Sportscenter's Top 10 Plays with a highlight-reel dunk en route to finishing with a career-high 19 points (11-of-12 from the free throw line) and eight rebounds. As a team, the Javelinas went 24-of-27 from the free throw line. The bench was outstanding all game, outscoring the MSU second unit, 57 to 27. DJ Weathers poured in a team-high 18 points, 12 coming in the second half, and dished out a career best five assist, and Adonis Bailey connected on three triples to finish with 12 points. Freshman Austen Bradshaw scored eight points in 28 minutes after his career day at Cameron.
 
"We gave up too many offensive rebounds," said Wright. "We played tough and coach Johnny Estelle and the rest of the staff prepared us for the physical play, but we gave up the lead late and could not come back. It's a tough loss, but we want to thank Javelina nation for their crowd support. It means so much to our kids to see the crowd behind us."
 
"They are fighting and aren't doing everything correct, but that's part of coaching a young team," said Estelle. "I cannot commend these guys enough on the amount of passion and effort they play with and it's tough to come up short. We will keep working and hopefully get over that hump."
 
With the loss, the Mustangs have upended the Javelinas in 15^th consecutive contests, but definitely needed some late heroics as they trailed for most of the game. The three-pointer by Bretson McNeal, the game's leading scorer with 24 points, gave the Mustangs their first lead since the 14:17 mark of the second half. The sharpshooter's second of back-to-back treys was the dagger for TAMUK, stretching MSU's lead to four with 34 ticks remaining. After free throws by Wright cut Kingsville's deficit to two, McNeal sealed the victory with two free ones of his own.
 
After trading points in the opening minutes of the second half, Weathers' three-point play allowed the Hogs to overtake the Mustangs, 42-41, with 13:51 remaining. Turnovers continued to be key to TAMUK's rally as MSU tallied 16 turnovers before the half-way point of the second stanza. Weathers' second and-one opportunity of the game led to a four-point lead for TAMUK and minutes later, Jahr's second chance bucket gave TAMUK a 47-43 edge with 11:21 remaining.
 
Troy Jones' free throws added to the Javelina lead, 56-52, with 8:48 left to play and with 8:24 remaining, Wright, who already brought the crowd to its feet with a dunk, nearly blew the roof off the gymnasium with a highlight-reel dunk. After draining the free throw for a three-point play and TAMUK's sixth and-one opportunity, the Javelinas were on the right end of a 59-53 ballgame. Wright drained two from the charity stripe for his 10^th and 11^th points of the game as Texas A&M-Kingsville led 61-56 with 7:22 remaining.
 
The opening minutes of the game seemed to be all MSU, but Bailey's contested triple gave the Javelinas their first lead of the game, 10-9, with 13:25 remaining in the half, and the senior completed a rare four-point play after the successful free throw.
 
Moments later, Bradshaw drove to the lane and found the bottom of the nylon and hit his free throw for the and-one and a 17-16 lead for the Hogs with 9:22 left to play.
 
Weathers caused a huge momentum swing on Kingsville Hampton Inn Court after connecting on both free throws to give Texas A&M-Kingsville a 27-26 lead with 4:05 left to play. After MSU's 11^th turnover of the game on a steal by Jordan Jahr, Weathers' lay-up gave the Hogs a three-point edge. On the ensuing possession, Jahr swatted away his second shot of the first half. TAMUK's 10-0 run ended on the fifth three-pointer of the half and third for Bailey, giving the Javelinas a six-point cushion. A great ending to the first half for TAMUK as the Blue and Gold went on a 10-3 run.
 
MSU ended the half with 12 turnovers, which led to 15 TAMUK points. Bailey scored 10 opening frame points and Wright – who brought the crowd to its feet with an emphatic block – and Weathers added six points apiece. Weathers dished out three assists.
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville takes a week off before resuming action on Kingsville Hampton Inn Court, hosting No. 11/8 Angelo State University (17-1, 5-0 LSC) on Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. The Rams defeated Cameron University, 75-57, to extend their win streak to 12 and remain undefeated in conference play.
 
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