SAN ANTONIO, Texas – In a battle in the Alamo City, Texas A&M University-Kingsville (3-0) spoiled St. Mary's University (0-3) home opener with a 60-53 victory on Tuesday night in Bill Greehey Arena.
  
After trailing by two points at the half for the second consecutive game, the Javelinas continued to show their grit, making big stops late in the game to pull out the seven-point win. The stingy TAMUK defense allowed STMU to score just one point – a free throw – in the final three and a half minutes of what was a tightly contested contest from start to finish. 
  
The turning point offensively for the Hogs was a corner pocket three-pointer by Trey Sumpter, tying the game 51-51 with just over six minutes remaining. Jacolby Harris would then score two consecutive points in the paint to give the Hogs their final lead of the game. 
 
Derrick Byrd and Harris tied for a game-high 12 points and Robert Stevenson chipped in eight points and four rebounds. Will West and Kyren Block both finished with six points, although West led all players with four steals, and Block bullied the boards with a team-high eight rebounds. Peter Radojicic paced the Rattlers with 11 points and eight rebounds on 5-of-7 shooting. Will Ferguson scored nine points and dished out two assists, while Skylar Brooks scored eight points in the loss. 
  
First Half 
It was a back-and-forth half that featured ten lead changes. The Javelinas held the largest lead of the frame when they came out firing with an early 8-2 lead. However, ten unanswered points put the Rattlers ahead 12-8 at the 14:55 mark. Down 28-25, Jacolby Harris scores on a lay-in, and was credited with an assist on the next possession after Block nets a jumper, giving the Hogs a 29-28 led. St. Mary's stayed poised though and ended the half with a 34-32 lead despite committing 11 turnovers. 
 
Derrick Byrd was feeling it early from three-point range, shooting 75 percent from behind the arc and had a team-high 11 points at the half. 
 
Second Half 
STMU started the second half with a 6-1 run, but TAMUK responded with a 10-0 run, starting with a tip-in from Robinson to regain a 43-40 lead. That lead was short-lived, however, as Freddie Williams sparked the Rattlers over the next three minutes and gave the home team a 48-44 lead. With 6:35 on the clock and the Hogs down 51-48, Sumpter splashes in a three from the corner to tie it up and forced an STMU 30-second timeout. A couple of possessions later, Harris scores five consecutive points, including an and-one and gives Kingsville a 56-51 lead with 4:06 left in the game. On the other side of the final media timeout, Will West gets Skylar Brooks in the air and goes up-and-under to extend the lead 58-52 and ultimately sealed the game aside from a couple of free throws.
 
Notable Stats 
- This is the fourth consecutive win vs. STMU. They will play again this season on December 19. 
- Texas A&M-Kingsville held the Rattlers to 19 points in the second half and scored 28 points on three fewer possessions compared to the first half. 
- The Javelinas shot 36% from the floor versus the Rattlers 41%. 
- Five of the Javelinas triples came in the first half. 
- TAMUK's bench had another good performance, outscoring the opposition 31-16. 
- St. Mary's outrebounded TAMUK in the first half 25-12, including a 19-9 margin on the defensive glass. 
- St. Mary's had 11 turnovers in the first half and finished with 18. Hogs capitalized on the turnovers for 15 points. 
- STMU shot 1-of-9 from the three-point line in the second half. 
- The Javelinas held the lead for 16:45 while the Rattlers held the advantage for nearly an entire half (19:30).  
 
The Blue and Gold will head to Pueblo, Colo. to participate in the Al-Kaly Shrine Classic Tournament on November 17-18. Kingsville will play host CSU-Pueblo on the 17th at 8 p.m. central time before closing out the weekend versus Adam's State on the 18th at 4 p.m. central time.  
 
Become a member of the 6th Man Pack that features great benefits such as reserved chairback seating for home games and access to the 6th Man Pack Lounge at LSC doubleheaders for the 2017-18 season. The 6th Man Pack Lounge will be catered by Fatman's Meat Market. For more information on joining the team, contact the ticket office at 361-593-4030. 
    
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