KINGSVILLE, Texas – Derrick Byrd's game-high 15 points helped lead the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team to its most lopsided victory in more than decade, an 80-40 demolition of the Western New Mexico Mustangs on Thursday night at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
This win, combined with Eastern New Mexico's loss to Angelo State, puts the Hogs (12-15, 5-12) in possession of the eighth and final spot in the Lone Star Conference Tournament. If the Javs defeat the Greyhounds on Saturday, they'll clinch a postseason berth.
The 40-point margin of victory was the program's largest since the 2006-07 season, when the Hoggies clobbered Huston-Tillotson, 103-62. The last time the Javs limited an opponent to 40 points came in the 2005-06 season, when Kingsville defeated Texas A&M International 89-40.
Johnny Estelle's bunch came down with 45 rebounds compared to the Mustangs' 29 and the Javelinas also forced 22 turnovers, twice as many as they gave away.
Christian Bambrook started the scoring with a triple, touching off an 8-0 Kingsville run that also included a three from Will West. Western New Mexico responded with five points of their own, but an 8-1 TAMUK run followed, sparked by another trey, this one from Caelan Neal.
The teams went back-and-forth for several minutes until four straight free throws from Byrd gave the home side a 13-point edge at the 4:24 mark. Latrell Spivey responded with two foul shots for the Mustangs, but Boleware made the score 32-18 with his first bucket from the beyond the arc. After each side added a foul shot, Elliot Taylor tossed in a layup and C.J. Vanbeekum connected from three-point range and the score stood at 35-22 after 20 minutes.
The Javelinas completely dominated the second half and they didn't waste any time imposing their will. A layup by Neal and a triple by Sumpter stretched the lead to 18 and it reached 19 with just under 15 minutes to play. Seven straight Mustang points brought the visitors to within 12, but from there, TAMUK put together an incredible 35-7 run to close the game.
First, Byrd stole the momentum back with a triple that was followed by a slam from Robert Stevenson. Byrd then converted a three-point play for a 53-33 advantage and Jacolby Harris contributed a layup. Vanbeekum hit his second three of the night, but West responded with consecutive treys, and, after each team tacked on a pair, Elton Dyer drained one from three-point land. The Javelina lead reached 31 with 4:06 to play courtesy of a layup by Neal, which was quickly followed by Hector Ruiz's first basket of the season. The Javs would score that last 14 points of the game to close out the win.
The final, critical game of the season will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the SPEC. You can receive content for Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball by following @JavelinaMBB on Twitter and Instagram, liking the official Facebook page of Javelina athletics (/JavelinaSports), and subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube channel.
