STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Trey Sumpter found the bottom early and often to resurrect from his slump, but overall, Texas A&M University-Kingsville's (9-6, 2-3 LSC) offensive struggles continued as they fell to Tarleton State University (8-6, 4-2 LSC) 74-66 Saturday night in Wisdom Gym. 

Sumpter put on a shooting exhibition as he was 9-of-16 from the floor and matched a season-high seven made three-point field goals to set a new season-high of 26 points. Sumpter also finished with a team-best six rebounds and had two assists. Cris Boleware logged 14 points, marking his third consecutive game in double-figures and Caelan Neal and Will West concluded with eight and seven points, respectively.

The Javelinas had the upper-hand in many of the situational statistics, outworking the Texans on the offensive glass to create a 17-10 margin in second-chance points, outscored them 13-11 in points off of turnovers and showed their depth with a 26-7 advantage in bench scoring. However, the Texans were too much in the painted area as they dominated the Hogs 32-14. TSU shot 45 percent from the field while TAMUK shot 33 percent with 13 of their 20 field goals coming from three-point range.  

The Texans had four student-athletes score in double-digits, beginning with Corinthian Ramsey's 19 points. Ramsey recorded five rebounds and a game-highs of three assists and three steals. Josh Hawley was a force as he put up a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds and also swatted away three shot attempts. Jaraan Lands netted 13 points while Jesse Hill tallied 11 points and eight rebounds. 

FIRST HALF
The Javelinas started strong as they nailed seven three-pointers in the opening half and shot the Texans out of their zone defense. However, the home team kept pace with them offensively, shooting 54 percent from the field and switched their defensive approach to man-to-man where they would hold TAMUK scoreless for the last eight minutes of the frame. During that Hoggie scoring drought, the Texans exploded to a 16-1 run and went into the half with a 41-29 lead. 

Trey Sumpter led all scorers with 12 points, including a .750 clip from behind the arc. Neal was 2-of-2 from the field the charity stripe for eight points and Boleware knocked down two threes for six points by the break.  

SECOND HALF 
The scoring woes rolled over into the second stanza for Kingsville, but Sumpter kept his stroke alive as he hit his fourth triple of the game, breaking a ten-minute Javelina drought without a field goal. The Texans continued to apply pressure though, as they eclipsed their largest lead of the game at 16 points. The Javelinas ended the game with a 10-3 run and outscored the home team in the second half 37-33, but the damage was already done as the Texans walked away winners, 74-66.    

Texas A&M-Kingsville will return home for Lone Star Conference games against UT Permian Basin and West Texas A&M on January 11 and 13, respectively. 

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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