SILVER CITY, N.M. – Trey Sumpter collected 10 points and seven rebounds as the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team thumped the Western New Mexico Mustangs, 64-47, on Saturday evening at Drag's Court in Silver City, N.M.
Coach Johnny Estelle saw 11 different players contribute to the Javelinas' scoring effort and also watched his team outrebound WNMU, 46-35.
FIRST HALF
Haneef Vaughn-Wilson put the Mustangs on the board first with a jumper and Sumpter responded with a three. Two free throws by Will West and a layup by Vaughn-Wilson kept the teams one point apart and when Alex Gonzalez hit a three and Elton Dyer followed with a tip-in, the score was tied at seven.
Two Sumpter foul shots allowed TAMUK to regain the lead and Elliot Taylor added a layup for an 11-7 score. Cris Boleware then got on the scoresheet by connecting from three-point point land. Over the next six minutes, the margin between the schools swung back and forth between five and seven until West canned the Hogs' third triple of the afternoon and the score moved to 21-13. The senior guard then hit twice from the charity stripe to give the visitors a double-digit edge for the first time. A free throw and a Willie McCray jumper put WNMU seven points away from a tie and Jon-Reese Woodson's first bucket of the game put the difference at five.
Johnnathan Lindsey rocked the rim with a dunk for the Javs and that, combined with a free throw from Derrick Byrd, upped the lead for the Javelinas to eight. Buckets by each side in the final minute, the latter of which was a one handed jam by Jacolby Harris, put the teams in the locker room with the score at 28-20.
SECOND HALF
Harris quickly put the Javelinas back in front by 10 and that lead increased to 12 thanks to a mid-range jumper from West, who also tacked on a pair of free throws 90 seconds later. Vaughn-Wilson scored the first two points of the half for WNMU from the foul line, but Dyer hit two from the charity stripe for the Hogs and his three-point play 12 seconds later put the Javs up 39-22.
Solid defense kept the score the same for next two-a-half-minutes before each side added two to their total. Western New Mexico twice got within 14 points over the next several minutes, but a trey by Sumpter provided a 17-point cushion for the visiting squad. The advantage for the Javelinas reached 21 following layups by Caelan Neal and Byrd.
The Mustangs moved back to within 14 with 5:02 to play when Davis Wade connected from three-point range, but TAMUK refused to allow them any closer. The Javelina offense kept piling on points to secure the team's second consecutive victory.
The Javelinas' five game road trip continues on Tuesday, when they'll trek to San Angelo to face the Angelo State Rams 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.
