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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Men's Basketball) – The 7-2 Texas A&M University-Kingsville men's basketball team arrived in the Sunshine State for the 2015 Daytona Mitsubishi/Kia Shootout at the ICI Center on the campus of Embry-Riddle University. The Javelinas draw Virginia State (7-2) of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) on Dec. 19 at 4 p.m. CT and will play either the winner or the loser of the Embry-Riddle University (6-1) and Thomas University (5-6) on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT (consolation game) or 3 p.m. CT (championship game).
 
The Javelinas are coming off a 58-53 victory of St. Mary's University (4-4) Monday evening. In the win, Troy Jones finished a rebound shy of a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds, DJ Weathers chipped in 15 points and Thomas Diaz came off the bench to pull down seven rebounds.
 
Heading into the tournament, Texas A&M-Kingsville is 3-2 away from the Gil E. Steinke Physical Education Center-Kingsville Hampton Inn Court. In tournament games this season (Emerald Beach Hotel Javelina Men's Basketball Tip-Off Challenge and Tarleton State University Thanksgiving Classic), Kingsville is a perfect 4-0.
 
About the Hogs
The Javelinas are No. 5 in the nation in three-point field goal defense, holding opponents to 25.9 percent shooting from behind-the-arc. The defense is also in the top 20 in scoring defense (16^th) as teams score just 65.4 points per game versus Texas A&M-Kingsville.
 
Jones leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.6 points per contest on 57.7 percent shooting. The senior forward also averages 6.3 rebounds, second to Jamar Goodwin, who boasts marks of 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.0 steal. Weathers is scoring 11.3 points/game and pulling down 5.1 rebounds per game. Cris Boleware leads the team is assists and steals in his first season in a Javelina uniform, recording 2.9 dishes and 1.3 swipes/contest and fellow newcomer JaMarkus Horace is swatting away 1.3 shots per ballgame.
 
Scouting the Trojans
Much like the Javelinas, Virginia State boasts the same record after back-to-back wins to begin the week over St. Augustine's (Dec. 15) and Fayetteville State (Dec. 17), extending its win streak to four games. VSU is second in Division II in field goal defense (35.9 percent shooting for opponents), eighth in three-point field goal defense (27.3) and the team crashes the offensive glass, averaging 16.0 offensive boards per game, fifth-most in the country. A perfect 3-0 in conference play, the Trojans are led by Kevin Williams, who averages 12.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Elijah Moore scores 11.6 points to go with 5.1 rebounds and Walter Williams rounds out those averaging double figures with 11.0 points per game.
 
Saturday's meeting will be the first between the two programs.
 
Scouting the Eagles
Embry-Riddle is 6-1 in its first season as a full-fledged member of the Sunshine State Conference. The Eagles announced their move from NAIA to NCAA Division II back in 2013 beginning on July 1, 2015 and the basketball program has continued its storied success early on as an NCAA member. Last season, ERAU went 35-2 and advanced to the NAIA National Semifinals game and the 35 wins were the most in single season history. The Eagles set win streaks of 17 and 18 games last year. The team is led by Steve Ridder, who is in the midst of his 27^th season at the helm of the Embry-Riddle basketball program.
 
A balanced unit featuring six players averaging 10-plus points per game, Reed Ridder (son of head coach Steve Ridder) and Ognijen Miljkovic led the club scoring 15.1 points per game. Ridder is shooting 50.0 percent from the field, 43.5 percent from three-point range and adds 3.7 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals and Miljkovic is shooting 50.0 percent from the floor, 39.1 from three-point range and records 6.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals and a block per game. Dillon Graham (13.6 points, 6.6 rebounds), Joseph Gonzalez (11.9 points off the bench), Dalton Barnes (11.3 points, 3.6 assists) and Daniel Kiesing (10.6 points) round out the top scorers on the team. The lineup of Ridder, Miljkovic, Graham, Barnes and Kiesing has started all seven games for the Eagles.
 
Should the Javelinas square off with the Eagles, it would mark the first time both programs meet.
 
Scouting the Night Hawks
A member of the Sun Conference of the NAIA, Thomas University is located in Thomasville, Ga. Last season, the Night Hawks handed Embry-Riddle one of its two losses of the entire year, 77-70 (Jan. 20, 2015) and the two will meet in day one of the tournament. TU is coming off three consecutive regular season losses, including a 90-54 setback at Faulker on Dec. 15. Adonai Rogers is scoring 13.8 points per game and adding 4.8 rebounds per contest. Javoris Cooks is right behind him with 13.4 points per game and Mike Lyons adds 11.9 points. Andrea Robinson and Jamison Williams lead the team in rebounding with 8.7 and 5.4 boards per contest.
 
The Night Hawks and Javelinas have never met in a regular season contest.
 
Live stats, audio and video will be available for the tournament and can be accessed by visiting www.JavelinaAthletics.com, the official home of Javelina athletics.
 
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.