PORTALES, N.M. (Men's Basketball) – Troy Jones posted career-highs of 27 points on 12-21 shooting and 18 rebounds but the Javelinas remain snake bitten in a tough 74-71 loss to Eastern New Mexico University (6-14, 2-6 LSC) Wednesday evening at Greyhound Arena.
Jones' 27 points led Texas A&M University-Kingsville (9-10, 1-7 LSC) and all scorers, and 12 of his 18 rebounds were on the offensive end.
Cris Boleware and
DJ Weathers scored 11 points apiece.
Down five with 3:37 remaining, Jones hit the first of two free throws to cut TAMUK's deficit to four and
Jamar Goodwin's layup made it a one-possession ballgame with 2:53 left to play. Weathers was able to drain both from the foul line to tie the game at 67 with 1:16 remaining.
Later in the frame, Kingsville had the opportunity to tie the game with 12 seconds remaining but went 1-2 at the charity stripe and Kevin Saiz drained both of his free throws as Eastern New Mexico and Texas A&M-Kingsville split the regular season series.
Javaan Mumtaz led Eastern with 25 points on 9-15 shooting, including going 7-9 from three-point range.
Jones finished the first half with his third consecutive double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, but Mumtaz provided much of the offense for the Greyhounds with 15 points. Texas A&M-Kingsville trailed 35-31 after one.
The Javelinas will host West Texas A&M University Saturday at the SPEC.
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.
