ODESSA, Texas – For the second straight game, Caelen Neal set a season-high in scoring, totaling 20 points for the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team in a 92-78 loss to the UT Permian Basin Falcons on Saturday afternoon at the UTPB Gym.
Neal has now accumulated 10 or more points in four consecutive games, including 39 in his last two appearances. Derrick Byrd came off the bench to provide 18 points.
The Javelinas' record now stands at 11-15 and 4-12 in the Lone Star Conference, but they remain just a game out of the final spot in the conference tournament thanks to Eastern New Mexico's loss to Cameron. UTPB owns records of 22-3 and 14-2.
Amari Bryant began the game with a three 11 seconds in and the Falcons jumped to a quick 7-0 lead before the Hogs got on the board. A layup by Christian Bambrook and a trey from Cris Boleware was answered by three UTPB free throws to make the score 10-5.
Following three more Falcon foul shots and a Byrd layup, the home team found its groove offensively and was able to pull away thanks to a 19-5 run. That rally included a triple by Bryant and three-point plays from Daeshon Francis and James McPherson and it pushed UTPB to a 32-13 advantage. Neal attempted to blunt that momentum with consecutive threes, but the Falcons simply put together another rally, this one a 10-2 spurt, putting them up 42-21 with 4:18 until the half. Buckets by Neal, Byrd and Bambrook helped the visitors close to within 16, but UTPB scored the last six points of the half to end the period up 51-29.
The Javs started the second half on the right foot with a triple by Boleware, but a 14-2 burst by coach Andy Newman's Falcons provided them with a 31-point cushion to protect over the final 14:45. TAMUK scored 11 straight points in a run that began at the 6:08 mark and moved the team to within 17 and the Hoggies eventually sliced UTPB's lead to 12, but they were unable to complete the comeback.
Western New Mexico is the next opponent on the docket for TAMUK and they Mustangs visit Kingsville on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. meeting. You can receive content for Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball, you can follow @TAMUKWBB on Twitter and Instagram, like the official Facebook page of Javelina athletics (/JavelinaSports) and subscribe to the Javelina Athletics YouTube channel.
