KINGSVILLE, Texas – Junior Sammy Brooks (Dallas, Texas) went off for 20 points, but the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team still ended up on the short end of an 82-68 final on Saturday night against the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks at the Johnson Sports Center in Nampa Idaho.
Brooks hit five of his seven attempts from three-point range and was 6-of-12 from the floor while leading his team in scoring. The junior has now reached double figures in three consecutive games and he is the second Javelina to have a 20-point game this season. Junior Tre Flowers (Bryan, Texas) put up 21 against South Dakota Mines on Nov. 8th.
Junior Jamell Bradley (Converse, Texas) missed just once on six shots to finish with 13 points. Senior Chauncey Thomas (Plano, Texas) had a team-high five assists while sophomore Will Chayer (Corpus Christi, Texas) pulled in nine rebounds.
Good defense was the story in the opening minutes, as neither team tallied its second bucket until more than five minutes was gone in the first half. A layup by Brooks for a 4-3 Javs lead was followed by a jumper from Ezekiel Alley before Bradley swished a three for a two-point lead with 13:30 on the clock.
The lead then changed hands five times over the next three-and-a-half minutes until a 10-3 run gave the Nighthawks a 21-16 edge. NNU would lead by as many as nine in the first half, but Thomas beat the buzzer with layup to end the period and pull the Hogs to within seven.
The home team used 12 of the first 16 points in the second half to push their lead to 13 and a triple by George Reidy at the 14:57 mark made the score 49-35.
The Javelinas were unable to make a dent in that lead until consecutive triples by Brooks brought them within seven with just over 10 minutes remaining. Another three with 8:28 on the clock closed the gap to five points before the Nighthawks pushed it back out to 11.
Brooks proceeded to add two more buckets from deep in an 8-2 burst that cut TAMUK's deficit to 66-61, but it proved to be the team's last run of the night. NNU outscored the Javs 16-3 after that before two Javelina buckets closed out the scoring.
TAMUK will play its first Lone Star Conference game on Thursday against the Oklahoma Christian Eagles in Oklahoma City at 7:30 p.m. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy. To stay up-to-date with TAMUK men's basketball all year long, follow @JavelinaMBB on Twitter, @Javelinasports on Instagram, like Javelina Men's Basketball on Facebook and subscribe to the Javelina Athletics YouTube.
