STEPHENVILLE, Texas (Men's Basketball) – Twenty-four hours ago, Colorado State University-Pueblo upset No. 1 Tarleton State University. On Saturday evening at Wisdom Gym,
DJ Weathers drained both free throws with 25 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game and force overtime and Texas A&M University-Kingsville (5-1) allowed just one point in overtime to defeat the ThunderWolves (4-2), 72-69 on day two of the TSU Thanksgiving Classic.
JaMarkus Horace's layup with 4:10 remaining in OT gave the Javelinas a two-point lead and they never trailed after that. CSU-Pueblo cut it to one, but
Will West's two free throws with 19 ticks remaining clinched the win for the Hogs.
TAMUK was exceptional early in the second half, jumping out to a 52-44 lead with 14:14 remaining in the contest. Jones was 5-of-8 with 13 points at that point and Weathers had eight points, seven assists and four rebounds. A 7-0 run by Colorado State-Pueblo cut its deficit to four with 13:30 left, but the Javelinas had a seven-point cushion after
Marcus Frazier's two free throws with 6:16 left.
A late 6-0 run by CSU-Pueblo gave the ThunderWolves a two-point lead with 1:11 left before Weathers' two from charity stripe tied the ballgame at 68-all.
With the victory, the Javelinas improved to 3-1 in South Central Regional play and 2-0 in overtime contests.
Horace finished with eight points and eight rebounds – six offensive – off the bench.
Troy Jones went 6-of-9 for 15 points,
Will West added 11 points on 3-of-6 and
DJ Weathers and
Jamar Goodwin added 10 points apiece. Weathers recorded eight assists and nine rebounds (five offensive) and Goodwin swatted away two shots to go with his nine boards.
Tim Singleton and
Cris Boleware each dished out three assists.
The ThunderWolves scored the game's first eight points, but the Javelina defense was able to regroup as the offense began to click, allowing Kingsville to ride a 17-2 run to a 17-10 lead with 10:12 left in the first half. CSU-Pueblo was held scoreless for nearly four minutes during the Javelina run but answered with a run of its own (8-0) to take an 18-17 lead with 7:27 remaining. Jones was able to hit both free throws at the 6:52 mark to give TAMUK a one-point lead.
The Javelinas held a slight margin after the first 20 minutes, 34-32, behind Jones' and Goodwin's eight points. Goodwin added four rebounds and a block and Weathers registered four rebounds and five assists in the first half. Texas A&M-Kingsville drained five triples in the stanza.
Chris Golden scored a game-high 27 points and hit five three-pointers while adding four steals. Syrus McDonald went 5-of-9 from the floor for 11 points and added two assists and two steals and Odessa Lear posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds for Colorado State-Pueblo.
The Javelinas road trip continues on Dec. 2 at St. Edward's University for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
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.
