KINGSVILLE, Texas – For the second consecutive game, freshman Darius Mickens (Willis, Texas) caught fire on his way to 23 points and led the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team as they trampled the UT Permian Basin Falcons, 88-63, on Thursday night in Lone Star Conference action at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.

With the win, the Javelinas clinched a spot in the Lone Star Conference Tournament.

"It was our night," said coach Johnny Estelle. "Over the last two games, we've shot the ball well, which is good going into the tournament. When you make shots, you look like a better team. It was a team effort [tonight], like always. Rashon [Thomas] was dead-on tonight. Darius was Darius. I think we're starting to come back that [team that won six straight] and I'm happy we guarded really well. We're getting ready for the tournament."

Mickens, who also scored 23 points on Saturday against West Texas, hit on 9-of-13 shots from the floor and also snagged five rebounds. He's now scored in double figures in 11 of 13 games since the calendar turned to 2019.

"He has a quiet calmness," said Estelle, "and a quiet confidence about who he is as a player. His personality, his work ethic and his ability to be coached have [allowed] him and Will [Chayer] to exceed freshman status. They both play key roles for us."

Junior Rashon Thomas (Houston, Texas) knocked down four triples on his way to a 14-point evening and senior Alex Mills (Lauren, S.C.) tossed in 12 points of his own, knocking down three shots from beyond the arc.

Senior Robert Stevenson (Houston, Texas) set a new season-high with six blocked shots. That mark was just one short of the program record for blocks in a game, which Stevenson set last season against Western New Mexico.

The Hogs raced out of the gate, immediately taking a 15-5 lead on a run sparked by consecutive threes from Chauncey Thomas (Plano, Texas) and Rashon Thomas. Alex Mills contributed six points during the stretch as the Javelinas took a double figure lead.

After the Falcons scored six straight points to close to within four, the Hogs ran away again, scoring 21 of the next 28 points. Mickens was the main catalyst for the Blue and Gold, recording 11 points including eight straight at one point.

The TAMUK lead reached as many as 21 in the first half when Mills drained the third of four triples he'd hit in the first half and the 18-point Javelina lead at halftime was their second largest edge at the mid-point of a game this season.

Two free throws from Stevenson quickly hiked TAMUK's advantage to 20, but after that the Falcons set about chipping away at their deficit. A triple from Jacob Ledoux, who finished with a game-high 26, sliced the deficit to 14 by canning a trey at the 16:41 mark.

A few minutes later, the Falcons used a 6-0 burst to close within nine at 56-47 with 12 minutes remaining and they shrunk the margin to single digits again four minutes later after Xavier Ledet converted a three-point play.

At that point, the Javelinas started another run, one that would put the Falcons away for good. Junior John Mouton (Missouri City, Texas) struck the first blow with a trey and buckets from Mickens and Chauncey Thomas followed. Mickens then turned a steal into a slam for a 72-54 difference.

The Hogs kept pouring it on to the tune of 15 of the game's last 23 points in earning their second-largest victory of the season.

The Javelinas set a new season-high from beyond the arc by sinking 13 threes, one better than the 12 triples that totaled on Saturday against West Texas. They also set season-highs by attempting 69 total shots and 35 threes.

TAMUK hit 42 percent of its shots of its shots 37 percent from three-point land. The Falcons, who entered the night as the top shooting team in the LSC, connecting on 50 percent of the their attempts, were held to 32 percent from the floor and 17.6 percent on threes.

The final home game of the 2018-19 regular season will pit the Javelinas against the Western New Mexico Greyhounds on Saturday. The scheduled tip-off time for that game is 4 p.m. To keep up with Javelina men's basketball all year long, follow @JavelinaMBB on Twitter and @JavelinaSports on Instagram, like JavelinaMBB on Facebook and visit Javelinaathletics.com.