LAWTON, Okla. – Junior John Mouton's (Missouri City, Texas) 22 points were not enough on Thursday night, as the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team suffered a 65-61 defeat at the hands of the Cameron Aggies in Lone Star Conference action at the Aggie Gym in Lawton, Okla.
The loss, which puts TAMUK at 12-13 overall and 8-9 in conference play, locks the Javelinas into the LSC's sixth seed for the conference tournament. Cameron improves 9-18 and 5-12 in the LSC.
Mouton's 22 points came on 7-of-14 shooting and he also connected four times from beyond the arc. This point total represents a season-high for the junior.
Cameron started the game with the night's first run, putting up six straight points, which included two buckets from Jalen Nicholas.
A three from junior Rashon Thomas (Houston, Texas) soon got the Javs on the board and the visitors got a run of their own going. After the Aggies took a 13-8 lead, a layup by junior Daniel Severo (Osasco, Brazil) started a 10-1 burst for the Blue and Gold. Thomas and Mouton contributed the last six points, each player draining a three.
The home team then took their turn stealing the momentum, scoring 10 straight points for 24-18 advantage. That burst started with a trey courtesy of Jordan Lewis. At the half, Cameron led 27-25.
The Javelinas weren't able to find their first points of the second half until the 14:42 mark and Cameron used the opportunity to jet off on an 11-2 run and grab a 38-27 lead.
The difference between the teams later grew as large as 13 before consecutive treys from Mouton sliced his team's deficit to seven.
With 6:30 to play, the Aggies still led by eight, but that's when TAMUK again chipped away at the lead. A four-point play from Alex Mills (Laurens, S.C.) started what became a 10-2 run. Another triple from Mouton at the 4:14 mark brought the Hogs to within one and Mouton tied the game less than 30 seconds later with a free throw.
The Aggies regained the lead with 3:38 remaining on a free throw and Zachary Dumas then added two from the charity stripe for a three-point edge. After an exchange of layups, Brock Schreiner laid one in at the 1:42 mark. Two Mouton foul shots with 41 seconds left, made the score 6-57, but a Dumas layup 27 seconds later put the Aggies back ahead by five. TAMUK crept within two eight ticks later, but Cameron was able to hold on for the win.
The last game of the 2018-19 regular season takes the Javelinas to Wichita Falls, Texas to battle MSU Texas on Saturday at 4 p.m. To stay up-to-date with TAMUK men's basketball all season long, follow @JavelinaMBB on Twitter and @JavelinaSports on Instagram, like JavelinaMBB on Facebook and visit Javelinaathletics.com.
