PUEBLO, Colo. – Trey Sumpter tallied 17 points and the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team withstood a feverish second half comeback attempt by the Adams State Grizzlies, but came away with a 75-73 victory at Massari Arena on Saturday evening in Pueblo, Colo. at the Al Kaly Shrine Classic Tournament.

Sumpter shot 7-of-13 from the field and 3-of-4 from three en route to his second straight game in double figures. Derrick Byrd contributed 11 to the cause and the Hogs also benefited from 30 points courtesy of their bench.

FIRST HALF

After the Grizzlies scored the game's first four points, the Javs came back to tie things up at five thanks to a three by Sumpter and a layup by Byrd, only for Adams State to score five more points to go up 10-5. From there, Johnny Estelle's team took off on a 15-3 burst to go ahead by seven. Sumpter started the run by making a jumper and, after Elton Dyer knocked down a triple, Sumpter found the range with consecutive treys to put TAMUK up 16-13. Caelan Neal and Will West capped the run by each sinking a pair of free throws.

Frederick Jackson tried to right the ship for ASU with a layup, but the Hogs then reeled off eight more points, four of them courtesy of Johnnathan Lindsey and the Javelinas took a 28-15 lead. Each side added two, but five free throws by the Grizzlies got them to within eight and a bucket by Jarrett Givens sliced the deficit to six. Kingsville responded with another 8-0 stretch, fueled by a three by Byrd. The TAMUK lead eventually grew to 16 and they went into the half ahead, 47-33.

SECOND HALF

A layup by Christian Bambrook and a triple by Dyer started the second half for the Hoggies, putting them in front by 19, but the Grizzlies answered with a furious charge. Brandon Sly and Givens each hit threes and, after a Mike Thomas layup, Sly knocked down jumper and Givens swished a pair of foul shots, moving Adams State to within eight. After two free throws by West put TAMUK back up by 10, Sly converted a three-point play, then hit twice more from the charity stripe and the score moved to 57-52.

Sumpter hit a bucket to try and get the Javs back on track, but ASU continued to maintain the momentum. Another three-point play by Sly was followed by a Troyon Butler layup and when Sly hit another shot to raise his point total to 19, the game was all even at 59 with 8:19 to play and Adams State had gone on a 26-7 run.

A bucket and a free throw by Lindsey made the score 62-59, but after the teams traded points, Givens swished a jumper and the Grizzlies were within one. They took their first lead of the second half thanks to a dunk by Jackson, only for West to sink a jumper for the Javs. After each side added two to their total, Neal fired in a trey with 1:43 on the clock and the Hogs went up, 71-67. Two ASU foul shots by Shane Johnson were answered by two from Robert Stevenson. Johnson hit 1-of-2 from the line with 50 seconds left, but another free throw from Stevenson made it a two-possession game again. The Grizzlies managed to draw within one on a last-second trey from Givens, but they couldn't complete the comeback and the Javelinas' win streak stayed intact.

Home court now awaits for the Hogs, who will play host to Texas A&M-International on Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. Receive content for Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball by following @JavelinaMBB on Twitter and Instagram, like the official Facebook page of Javelina athletics (/JavelinaSports), and subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube channel.