KINGSVILLE, Texas – Freshman Will Chayer (Corpus Christi, Texas) fell just one rebounds short of a double-double and fellow rookie Darius Mickens (Willis, Texas) added 13 points, helping craft a 68-59 victory for the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team over the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds on Saturday afternoon at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
Chayer's 13 points were a career-high, as were his nine rebounds. He shot 5-of-7 from the floor and added a three-pointer. For Mickens, this marked his third straight game with at least 13 points.
Junior Rashon Thomas (Houston, Texas) was in double figures for the second straight game, totaling 11 points on a day when he hit all six attempts from the free throw line. Matching Thomas's total was senior Jacolby Harris (Delray, Fla.) and he also led the squad with three assists. Senior Robert Stevenson (Houston, Texas) hammered the glass all afternoon and finished with a game-high 10 rebounds.
[This was] a hard fought game against a really good opponent," said coach Johnny Estelle. "These kids are coming along. They really battled. I think they are really trying to figure out what it takes to win. They've been doing it all year, but we haven't had the results at the end. Now I think we're starting to get into a groove of who were are and what it takes to win. I couldn't be more proud of them."
The day's first four points were scored by the Javelinas (6-7, 2-3) courtesy of Harris and Chayer, but that was immediately countered by an 8-2 ENMU (6-8, 3-2) run for an 8-6 lead.
A see-saw battle saw the Hogs go up by three, then the Greyhounds take a three-point edge. The visitors took their first four-point advantage thanks to a three off the hands of Zack Parker. TAMUK's answer came in the form of five straight points from junior Chauncey Thomas (Plano, Texas), allowing the Javs to seize an 18-17 edge.
Three points by the Greyhounds were answered when junior John Mouton converted a three-point play, only to see ENMU slide back in front, 28-26, with 49 seconds to play in the half. Chayer was able to pull the Blue and Gold even with two free throws in the period's final moments.
A trio of runs started the final 20 minutes. The visitors went up six to begin the second half before a Chayer trey sparked an 8-0 burst that included a three-point play by Harris for a 36-34 edge. The response came in the form of six-in-a-row for ENMU.
The Hogs battled back to force a 44-44 tie thanks in part to four straight points, including a fast-break jam courtesy of Mickens. The teams forged ties at 46, 48 and 50, at which point the Hogs went on a run and never looked back. Eight straight points during a stretch that included to free throws by junior John Mouton (Missouri City, Texas) gave the home team its largest lead of the game to that point with 4:58 on the clock.
The closest the Greyhounds would get after that was when they cut their deficit to five with 1:17 to play, but TAMUK used a pair of offensive rebounds on their next possession, one from Mouton and one from Chayer, followed by two Mickens free throws to put the game on ice.
The Javelinas will play their first road game of 2019 on Thursday, when they're scheduled to visit Western New Mexico for an 8:30 pm. tip-off. 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.
