KINGSVILLE, Texas – On Senior Day for the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team, 12 different Javelinas got on the scoresheet, led by 12 points from junior Rashon Thomas (Houston, Texas), and the Hogs crushed the Western New Mexico Mustangs, 78-47, in Lone Star Conference action on Saturday afternoon at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
For Thomas, who sank four threes, this represented the eighth time in his last nine games he's scored in double figures. Playing in his first game in two weeks, Kyren Block (San Antonio, Texas) contributed 11 points, hitting 5-of-6 shots from the floor. Senior Alex Mills (Laurens, S.C.) and freshman Darius Mickens (Willis, Texas) each totaled nine points.
Junior John Mouton (Missouri City, Texas) set a new season-high with 12 rebounds. Senior Robert Stevenson (Houston, Texas) added for blocks to his program-leading total, which now stands at 155.
"It was kind of two different games," said coach Johnny Estelle. "In the first half we played off emotion and were kind of jittery. Senior Days are always the toughest for a lot of reasons. Once they settled down and relaxed, they played our style of basketball. I'm really proud for everybody and especially for the seniors. They did an outstanding job."
It took almost two minutes for either team to get on the scoreboard before a three from Willie McCray broke the ice and the Mustangs ended up scoring the game's first seven points. The Javelinas finally got on the board with a bucket at the 14:43 mark, but it was quickly answered with a two-pointer for WNMU.
With 13 minutes remaining in the half, the Javelina offense came to life and put together a run that gave them the lead. A jumper by Mickens got things started and layups by freshman Will Chayer (Corpus Christi, Texas) and Stevenson brought the Hogs to within one.
After two free throws by the Mustangs put them ahead 11-8, a triple by Block got the Javelinas going again. They took the lead moments later when Block canned a jumper. The TAMUK lead grew as large as eight before the Mustangs came back by scoring eight of the final 10 points of the half, going to the break trailing 23-21.
The Javelinas immediately took control in the second half and never looked back. They began the period with a 15-0 run that included two slams from senior Jacolby Harris (Delray, Fla.) and threes courtesy of Thomas and Mouton.
Consecutive treys from Thomas just past the 10-minute mark upped the Javelina lead to 23 and Mills added three late triples as the Javelinas captured their largest victory of the season.
The Hogs held Western New Mexico to just 26.7 percent shooting and 1-of-11 from three, while they shot 43.5 percent. The Javs also turned the ball over only 10 times, their second-lowest total of the season, and they forced 22, their second-highest takeaway total of the year.
The last two games of the 2018-19 campaign are on the road for the Javelinas, beginning with a battle against the Cameron Aggies on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Stay current with TAMUK men's basketball all year long by following @JavelinaMBB on Twitter and @JavelinaSports on Instagram, liking JavelinaMBB on Facebook and visiting Javelinaathletics.com.
