OKLAHOMA CITY – A Daniel Severo (Osasco, Brazil) free throw with 4.2 seconds remaining gave the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team a one-point lead and they held on for their third such win of the season, 58-57, over the Oklahoma Christian Eagles in Lone Star Conference action on Thursday night at the Eagles' Nest in Oklahoma City.
For the Javelinas this is the first time since the 1972-73 season they've won three one-point games in a single year. This victory puts them at 1-0 in LSC play and 3-2 overall while OC drops to 1-3 and 0-1 in the conference.
"This time of the year is about survival on some nights," said coach Johnny Estelle. "This environment was difficult to play in tonight. It took special players to execute and I was very proud of my seniors, Rashon Thomas and Chauncey Thomas. Leadership is developed through adversity and we sure had enough of it tonight."
Leading the way for the Hogs on the scoreboard was senior Rashon Thomas (Houston, Texas), who logged 16 points, 11 of which came in the second half, including three of his four three-pointers. Fellow senior John Mouton (Missouri City, Texas) registered 10 points.
Senior Chauncey Thomas (Plano, Texas) led all players with six assists and Severo cleaned up on the glass to the tune of seven rebounds.
The defenses kept the scoresheet relatively clean in the first few minutes, but by the 12:30 mark, the Eagles had built an 11-5 lead with a 9-2 burst.
TAMUK remained within striking distance until Mouton put them in the lead. He scored six straight points on consecutive layups and a pair of free throws to make the score 17-16. The Eagles quickly jumped back ahead by three, but the Hogs then put together a 10-3 run which included four points from sophomore Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas). The remaining scoring in the period came on five free throws, four by OC and one for TAMUK and sent the sides to the break with the Hogs ahead by one.
TAMUK's halftime lead was thanks in large part to being plus-four in turnovers and turning six OC giveaways into eight points, while the Eagles didn't score at all off the two turnovers they forced. The home time did shoot 50 percent in the first half, while holding the Javelinas to 31.8 percent on 22 shots.
The teams exchanged buckets twice to start the final 20 minutes followed by a stretch in which the Eagles outscored the Javs, 11-4, and took a 40-36 lead with 14:21 remaining. TAMUK and OC then each tacked on five points and the clock ticked under nine minutes with the scoreboard reading Eagles 45, Javelinas 41.
Consecutive jumpers from sophomore Will Chayer (Corpus Christi, Texas) and Chauncey Thomas tied the game, followed by a go-ahead trey courtesy of Rashon Thomas. Thomas' triple was the first of four times in which the Hogs took the lead over the final seven minutes, including on another Thomas three at the 4:19 mark and on a Mouton layup with 34 seconds left, only to see the Eagles come back to tie.
With 29 seconds on the clock, Dedrian Palmer swished two free throws to even the score at 57. On the ensuing possession, another three-point attempt from RashonnThomas missed, but Severo secured the rebound and drew a shooting foul with only 4.2 seconds remaining. His first attempt from the charity stripe hit the back iron, but came down through the net for game's final point. A last-second attempt at a game-winning shot from Jonathan Reyes didn't come until after the buzzer, giving the Javs a conference road win.
The Hogs will be shooting for another LSC triumph on Saturday, when they head to Arkansas-Fort Smith to take on the Lions at 4 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.
