ALLEN, Texas (Men's Basketball) – The moral of the story… Do not EVER sleep on the Javelinas. The Hogs gave the Allen Event Center a resilient comeback as Texas A&M University-Kingsville, who trailed by as much as 20 at one point, cut its deficit to two with 7:56 remaining. The final score did not dictate how close the Javelinas (8-19) were to upsetting No. 15 Angelo State University (25-4). In Wednesday's Lone Star Conference quarterfinals matchup, No. 2 ASU downed No. 7 TAMUK, 83-73.
Trailing by as much as 20, the Hogs held the Rams scoreless for 3:25 to cut their deficit to 60-51. Limiting ASU to 2-of-13, a three-point play by
Jordan Jahr made it a one possession ballgame, 62-60, with 7:56 remaining. Minutes later, TAMUK trailed by only three (5:03 mark). Fifteen of
Duan Wright's 21 came in the second half and Jahr added eight.
"I am proud of our guys for fighting back, but there are no moral victories in basketball," said head coach
Johnny Estelle. "This was a win or go home game and unfortunately, we ended up with a sour taste in our mouths. I am excited to bring Javelina Nation back to the promise land as we look to continue improving on our foundation. We did not look to make an easy fix. We want a family-like culture here and we look forward to what's to come from our team."
DJ Weathers reached double figures for the 10
th time this season, finishing with 10 and freshman
Will West drove to the basket all afternoon for eight.
Don Thomas scored the Hogs' first five points but a 12-0 run by the Rams allowed Angelo State to jump out to a 23-10 lead with 11:00 left to play. The Rams shot 56.3 percent from the floor in the first half to take a 51-33 edge into the second half.
With the loss, the all-time series is now tied at 51-all and TAMUK falls to 0-4 in Allen, Texas, and 19-29 all-time in the LSC tournament. ASU improves to 7-1 against the Hogs in the LSC tourney.
The Javelinas conclude their first season under former player and LSC Tournament MVP
Johnny Estelle 8-19 overall.
Demario Mayfield finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds and Chris Jones and Marsell Holden combined for 41 points to lead the Rams. The win extends ASU's best season as a program, as the 25 wins are the most in school single season history.
"They are a first class organization and are very well coached," Estelle said. "They made big plays when they needed to stop our rally."
For full coverage of Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball, please follow @JavelinaMBB on Twitter and Instagram, like Javelina Nation on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel, Javelina Athletics.
Notes: Texas A&M-Kingsville entered as the No. 7 seed in the 2015 Lone Star Conference Championships… Angelo State is ranked No. 17 in the NABC Poll and entered the LSC tournament with 24 wins, the most in Rams single season history… TAMUK fell to ASU in both regular season matchups and are 1-6 all-time in LSC tournament play against the Rams. The last time the Hogs met the Rams in the LSC tournament was 1995, when TAMUK defeated ASU, 99-89, to advance to the championship game… Kingsville is 19-29 all-time in LSC tournament games and 0-4 at the Allen Event Center… Angelo State ranked tops in the nation in field goal percentage and scoring margin…
Jordan Jahr started his 45 career game as a Hog and 27
th of the season. He is the only player to start all 27 games this season…
DJ Weathers reached double figures for the 10
th time this season…
Duan Wright scored 10-plus for the 11
th time this season and finished with a team-high 21 points, 15 coming in the second half… The Javelinas are 1-5 when
Don Thomas,
Jamar Goodwin,
Duan Wright,
Jordan Jahr and
Justin Philippe start… Three players finished in double figures… Texas A&M-Kingsville finishes its first season under head coach
Johnny Estelle 8-19 overall, 7-11 in games following a loss and 1-2 in neutral site games.
