STEPHENVILLE, Texas (Men's Basketball) – Texas A&M University-Kingsville (14-7, 7-5 LSC) will have its streak put to the test this weekend as they matchup against #11 Tarleton State University (20-3, 11-2 LSC) on Thursday night at Wisdom Gym, followed by a Saturday evening showdown against Texas A&M University-Commerce (16-6, 8-5 LSC) inside of the Field House.
Live stats, and audio will be available at javelinaathletics.com with Kevin Piel and Kelvin Queliz calling the action.
The Javelinas extended their winning streak to six after a thrilling 58-56 victory over Cameron to split the season series. Duan Wright led the team in scoring with 15 points and two steals, while Will West came to play as he slid in 11 points in his first start of the season. However the biggest takeaway from the game was Derrick Byrd who made the game-winning play for the second consecutive game.
As a team, TAMUK averages just 69.5 points per game but makes it up on the defensive end with the second-best scoring defense in the league (65.2 PPG). The Hoggies ended last week with the No.1 three-point field goal percentage defense in all of Division II for the second straight week. The defenses holds their opponent to a .271 clip from downtown and a .396 clip from the field which is fourth in the LSC and 11th in the nation. As true ball-hoggers, they lead the league with 18.1 forced turnovers per game and has registered 4.4 blocks per contest.
Wright continues to lead the team in scoring for the season (12.1 PPG), but is followed closely by Trey Sumpter (11.6 PPG) and Caelan Neal (10.2 PPG). Sumpter paces the team with 26 steals, Byrd holds the top slot with 69 assists and Robert Stevenson locks down the paint with 29 blocks—a true testament of team effort that they illustrate every time they touch the floor.
#11 Tarleton State is has won their last four games after dropping just their second conference game at home against UT Permian Basin, 76-64. The Texans are a strong all-around team that has both a strong offensive and defensive game. Not only do they rank fourth in the conference with 81.5 PPG on a .480 shooting percentage that leads the league, but on the other end they hold their opponents to a league-low 65 PPG and rank second with a field goal defense percentage at .387. This will be an interesting battle as the best three-point shooting team in the LSC(.362) will go head-to-head against the nation's leading three-point defense percentage team.
Four players scoring average rest in double-digits beginning with Ridell Camidge who scores 15.1 PPG). Chants Chambers is next with 13.1 PPG, while Romond Jenkins averages a double-double with 12.7 PPG and 11.1 rebounds per game. Jenkins has tallied 13 double-doubles this season, ranking fourth in the nation. Deshawn Roddick rounds out the top scorers with 10 PPG and his 102 assists leads the LSC.
With the Hogs down 38-23 in the all-time series, they look to make history by completing the sweep over the Texans after knocking them off 76-71 about a month ago, handing TSU their first conference loss. A win in Stephenville will be the first since the 2008-09 season (51-45), a win that snapped 13 consecutive losses against TSU.
The Javs will close out the weekend against A&M-Commerce who was just upset by Eastern New Mexico, 72-65, moving the conference home record to 3-3. The Lions average 85.1 PPG but also relinquish 77.6 points to their opponents. They shoot 45% from the floor, 31% from three and 65.5% from the stripe.
Malik Albert is the Lions leading scorer with 18.4 PPG and also leads the team with 43 steals. Trey Seymore is next with with 14.9 PPG with a team-high 72 assists and Montrell Little chips in 10 PPG. Dorian Armstrong leads the team with 7.9 rebounds per game and leads the LSC with 38 total blocks.
The Lions is responsible for handing the Javelinas their only loss at home in conference play this season. They edged the Hogs 74-72 despite being out worked in the second half 45-37. Wright tied Albert for a game-high of 20 points with Sumpter, Jones and Diaz following with 13, 12 and 11 points, respectively.
TAMUC will host Angelo State on Thursday night before playing TAMUK on Saturday for their senior day game. TAMUK trails in the all-time series, 53-69.
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 athletics (/JavelinaSports), and subscribe to the JavelinaAthletics YouTube channel.
