SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Men's Basketball) – Troy Jones finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season and two other Javelinas reached double figures but St. Mary's University (2-1) was able to secure a 63-54 victory over Texas A&M University-Kingsville (2-1) Wednesday evening inside the Bill Greehey Arena.
The double-double was Jones' third in a Javelina uniform and four of his boards were on the offensive glass. As a team, TAMUK finished with 10 offensive rebounds.
DJ Weathers paced all Hogs with 16 points and the senior added seven boards,
Jamar Goodwin tallied 10 points and
Marcus Frazier came off the bench to dish out three assists to go with his two steals and three rebounds.
A defensive battle in the first half, the duo of
JaMarkus Horace and
Thomas Diaz combined for three blocks and two offensive rebounds as the Javelinas carried a 26-21 lead into the second half.
Jones took over early in the second half and went into the first media timeout of the frame (15:53 remaining) with 12 points and nine rebounds, three on the offensive glass.
However, after limiting the Rattlers to just 28.1 percent shooting in the first half, StMU was able to knock down 14-of-26 shots in the second stanza to outscore the Javelinas, 42-28, in the second half and come away with the win.
Despite the loss, the Javelinas led for 20:34. Trailing by eight with 3:39 left to play, the Hogs scored five unanswered, all by Goodwin, to make it a one-possession game with 1:57 remaining. St. Mary's sunk crucial free throws late to clinch the win over Texas A&M-Kingsville by nine.
For the Rattlers, Kriston Minor finished with a game-high 19 points, Yanni Wetzell added 14 points and six rebounds and Isaiah Parros collected 10 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. Stefan Wright came off the bench to dish out four dimes and pull down five rebounds.
Next up for the Javelinas is an exhibition at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Friday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. The Vaqueros are an NCAA Division I program and the game will be televised regionally on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel 323.
For full coverage of Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball, please follow @JavelinaMBB on Twitter and Instagram, like the official Facebook page of Javelina men's basketball (/JavelinaMBB) and subscribe to the JavelinaAthletics YouTube channel.
