KINGSVILLE, Texas – With their three-game losing streak now a distant memory and following their third win away from home this season, the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team has one more hurdle to clear before returning home and resuming conference play. The Javelinas will be traveling to San Antonio on Wednesday for a rematch with the St. Mary's Rattlers at 7 p.m. at Bill Greehey Arena.
The Javelinas (4-5, 0-2) took advantage of their most recent opportunity, downing Arkansas Tech, 80-70, in a neutral site meeting in Waco. Senior Robert Stevenson (Houston, Texas) posted a career-high 21 points to go with nine rebounds, but he was also one of four players in double figures for TAMUK. Seniors Jacolby Harris (Delray, Fla.) and Alex Mills (Laurens, S.C.) and junior Chauncey Thomas (Plano, Texas) topped 10 points as well. TAMUK dominated on the glass, pulling down 44 rebounds compared to 32 for their opponents. The Hogs have won the battle on the boards in all four victories to this point and they've won each game by double-digits.
One of the times the Hogs did not win the rebounding battle was the first time they faced SMU. St. Mary's corralled 45 rebounds while the Javs could only manage 34 and suffered a 60-55 defeat. That triumph was the first of the year for the Rattlers and started a run that saw them take six of their next seven.
While they then dropped two straight, the Rattlers (7-5, 1-1) enter Wednesday's tilt off a palate-cleansing triumph of their own. St. Mary's throttled Western New Mexico on Friday, 91-56, accumulating their highest point total in 27 games dating back to January. Five players tallied at least 10 points in SMU's 35-point victory, led by Marques Houston's 18. The win pushed St. Mary's record to 7-5, which matched their win total from all of 2017-18. Coach Jim Zeleznak is attempting to guide the program to its first winning season since 2014-15.
Defense has been the main reason Zeleznak's squad has forged a winning record through 12 contests. They lead the Heartland Conference in field goal percentage defense and rebounding defense. They also own second place in scoring defense. Guard Dimitri Peterson has been the main reason for St. Mary's excellent ability to defend. He stands fourth in the conference in rebounds per game and is also in the top 10 in the league in steals and blocks per game.
Stevenson has provided the Javelinas with similar production from his forward spot and has continued to burnish his reputation as one the of the Lone Star Conference's best rim protectors. His nine-rebound afternoon against the Wonder Boys marked the seventh time in nine games he's grabbed at least seven boards. His average of 6.7 rebounds per game is seventh-best in the LSC and he's tied for second in the league with 13 rejections, including multiple blocks in each of his team's last two games.
While Stevenson has been leading a stout Javelina defense, Mills and Thomas have been sparking coach Johnny Estelle's offense. Thomas has averaged 14.0 points per game over TAMUK's last three times on the court, including a season-high 18 at the expense of A&M-Commerce on Dec. 1st. He also passed out six assists against Arkansas Tech. Mills has found his stroke from beyond the arc, draining 11 threes in his last three games and averaging 13.0 ppg over that stretch.
Houston has been the main cog in St. Mary's offense, scoring at a rate of 15.3 points per game. He started the season off with a bang by putting up 26 points against Regis University on Nov. 9th and he also topped 20 points against St. Edward's on Dec. 1st. Perhaps his most impressive performance of the season came against Arlington Baptist on Nov. 17th. The junior from Houston, logged 19 points and 10 rebounds with a season-high five assists. Houston has been at his best at the free throw line this season, as he's converted 91.8 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe in 2018-19.
Links to live video and stats of Wednesday's game are available through Javelinaathletics.com and a recap of the contest will be released following the final buzzer. To stay up-to-date with TAMUK men's basketball all season, follow @JavelinaMBB on Twitter, @Javelinasports on Instagram, like Javelina Men's Basketball on Facebook and subscribe to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel.
