KINGSVILLE, Texas – Despite forcing 23 turnovers and getting points from 11 different players, the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team suffered a close loss at the hands of the St. Mary's Rattlers, 60-55, in their home opener on Wednesday night at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
Senior Jacolby Harris (Delray, Fla.) led the Javelinas with nine points while junior Rashon Thomas (Houston, Texas) pitched in with eight. Senior Robert Stevenson (Houston, Texas) led TAMUK on the glass with nine rebounds. In forcing 23 turnovers, the Hogs grabbed 13 steals, with three players contributing three takeaways.
The Rattlers took the first three leads of the game, the last one coming at 6-4 before the TAMUK offense set off on the initial run of the evening. A jumper by junior Chauncey Thomas (Plano, Texas) started what turned out to be 9-0 flourish, giving TAMUK a 14-6 advantage.
The visitors answered with an 8-1 run that evened the score at 14 and, moments later, the teams would be level again at 16 all. The game was tied two more times before, with 22 seconds to play prior to halftime, a driving layup by Rashon Thomas gave TAMUK a 22-20 halftime edge.
While St. Mary's did hold advantages in shooting percentage, outshooting the Javelinas, 38 percent to 26, and in rebounds, 24-14, the Javelinas forced 17 turnovers over the first 20 minutes. TAMUK totaled 10 steals in the first half with freshman Darius Mickens (Willis, Texas) contributing three.
A jumper by Petar Redojicic immediately tied the game to start the second half, but a three-point play by Harris pushed TAMUK back in front, 25-22. The Rattlers fought back to take a slim 26-25 lead before senior Alex Mills (Laurens, S.C.) answered with a trey and a layup by junior Daniel Severo (Osasco, Brazil) at the 15:42 mark upped the Javelina lead to 31-27.
Six consecutive points by the visitors, a stretch capped by a three from Skyler Brooks, pushed St. Mary's back ahead 33-31. After four points for TAMUK, five points in-a-row for the Rattlers earned them a 38-35 edge with 11:23 to play in regulation.
Three minutes later, the Hogs tied the game at 42 on slam by Stevenson. TAMUK then jumped ahead when Rashon Thomas drained a triple and a basket by sophomore Jamell Bradley (Converse, Texas) completed a 7-0 run. St. Mary's responded by scoring seven of the next nine points, Caleb Jordan evening the score on a three.
The two teams matched scores to meet again at 51 with 2:35 remaining, but the next seven points belonged to the visitors. Consecutive buckets from Radojicic in the paint made the score 55-51 and, after a turnover by Rashon Thomas, Jordan sank two free throws. TAMUK got within three with eight seconds remaining, but two more foul shots salted the game away for St. Mary's.
St. Mary's won the shooting battle with a percentage of 39.6, while the Javelinas shot 32.8. The victors also held their hosts to 2-of-21 from beyond the arc while they hit four treys in 16 tries. Radojicic led all scorers with 18 points.
The Javelinas get nearly a week off before they're back on the court to take on Texas A&M International at home on Tuesday. Tip-off for that contest is 7 p.m. To keep up with Javelina men's basketball all year long, follow @JavelinaMBB on Twitter and @JavelinaSports on Instagram, like JavelinaMBB on Facebook and visit Javelinaathletics.com.
