KINGSVILLE, Texas – Consecutive wins over Lone Star Conference opponents have put the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team back in the thick of the race for a spot in the conference tournament and the Javelinas (6-7, 2-3) will take their newfound momentum on the road when they visit two more rivals.
First, the Hogs and the Western New Mexico Mustangs will renew acquaintances on Thursday in a matchup scheduled for an 8:30 p.m. tip-off in Silver City, N.M. Two days later, Coach Johnny Estelle will bring his team to Odessa, Texas where the UT Permian Basin Falcons will be waiting. That clash will begin at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
TAMUK's fortunes against these two programs were markedly different during the 2017-18 campaign. In sweeping WNMU (3-9, 0-5), the Javelinas outscored the Mustangs by a combined 57 points, including an 80-40 beatdown in the penultimate game of the season. That blowout represented the largest margin of victory in a Javelina triumph since they defeated Huston-Tillotson 103-62 during the 2006-07 season.
For the Falcons, who were in the midst of a season that included four postseason victories, they averaged better than 85 points per game while taking both meetings with the Javs. While UTPB (10-5, 3-2) remains a formidable foe, new coach Josh Newman has had to replace four all-LSC performers from a year ago, including guards Daeshon Francis and James McPherson and forward Josh Morris, who were the team's top three scorers in each victory over TAMUK.
This year, these schools will see a very different Blue and Gold squad, but one that also may be finding its groove after toppling No. 8 West Texas and stopping Eastern New Mexico in consecutive games. Freshman Darius Mickens (Willis, Texas) tied for the team-high in scoring in each victory. He's averaged better than 13 points per game over his team's last three outings and his mark of 8.1 ppg for the season leads the squad.
Junior Rashon Thomas (Houston, Texas) also reached double figures against the Buffs and Greyhounds while fellow junior Chauncey Thomas (Plano, Texas) passed out nine assists and grabbed five steals over the weekend. Senior Robert Stevenson (Houston, Texas) added 19 boards to his season total, upping his per game average to 6.8, a number that puts him in the top 10 in the LSC.
Stevenson also registered four blocks in TAMUK's last two victories, helping bolster the club's status as one of the top defensive units in the nations. After holding ENMU to a shooting percentage of 31.3 from the floor, the Hogs moved into the top five defensively in shooting percentage allowed with a mark of 38.4 percent. The Blue and Gold is also 22nd in Division II in blocks per night, averaging 4.5. Stevenson's recent showing was good enough to earn him LSC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
The Mustangs will attempt to counter the Hogs' offensive momentum with a cast that includes one of the conference's top scorers in senior Jon-Reese Woodson. A former teammate of TAMUK's John Mouton (Missouri City, Texas) while at Temple College, Woodson enters Thursday's bout averaging exactly 14 points per game.
The Corpus Christi native has scored in double figures in each of his last five times out. That streak started when Woodson tallied 25 points against St. Edward's on Dec. 17th and he enters Thursday's contest following 24-point performance against MSU Texas on Jan. 12th . The Mustangs will be trying to break an eight-game losing streak when they host the Javelinas.
UTPB spent much of the last two seasons in the national rankings, but this season, with a new coach a rebuilt starting lineup, the Falcons were ranked fifth in the conference's preseason poll. So far, Josh Newman's student-athletes have justified their placement in that spot and they currently own the fifth slot in the LSC table.
High-octane offense has been the order of the day for the Black and Orange, with their season average of 89 points per contest placing them atop the LSC and 15th in the country. The Falcons have topped 100 points five times this season are led by two of the conference's top five scores in Jacob Ledoux and Kyree Elder. In UTPB's win over Cameron on Saturday, Elder racked up 34 points and he's averaging better than 20 points per game over the Falcons' last five matchups. Ledoux has reached the 10-point plateau in every game but one during the 2018-19 campaign.
Links to live coverage of both games will be available on Javelinaathletics.com, which is also where you'll be able to find a recap of each game 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.
