SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Junior Tre Flowers (Bryan, Texas) poured in a game-high 23 points, senior Rashon Thomas (Houston, Texas) racked up 20 and the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team shot 71.4 percent in the second half on their way to an 83-72 victory over the St. Mary's Rattlers in Lone Star Conference action on Saturday evening at Bill Greehy Arena in San Antonio, Texas.
The Javelinas boost their LSC record to 9-2, one more conference win than they had all of last season, and their divisional record to 3-2 with an overall ledger of 13-4. StMU is 1-2 in the division, 5-6 in the conference and 9-8 overall.
"The momentum changed when our bench became more energetic," said coach Johnny Estelle, "which inspired those on the court. We're the type of team that trusts, believes, and has faith in one-another no matter the score. Our culture is based on the idea of one heartbeat and our program slogan is "No Excuses, Just Commitment." Those two things were evident tonight and I could not be more proud of this team."
Flowers' 23 points represented his second-highest point total in Blue and Gold, surpassed only by the 31 he had on Nov. 30th against A&M-Texarkana. For the night he shot 8-for-13 with three three-pointers. Thomas has reached 20 points in consecutive games for the first time as a Javelina, with 18 of those coming in the second half, when the senior from Houston shot 7-for-8 from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Senior Chauncey Thomas (Plano, Texas) put up double figures for the fourth consecutive time, finishing with 10. He also led all players with seven assists.
For the game, the Javs shot 54.5 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three. Their percentage from three from was their highest since they shot 61.5 percent against CSU-Pueblo on 11/17. The last time they shot this well from the field was against A&M International on Dec. 4th, 2013, a day on which TAMUK crafted a percentage of 55.4.
An 11-1 run by the Rattlers enabled them to jump out to an 11-3 lead before the game was six minutes old and, after TAMUK shaved that edge to four, StMU tallied eight straight points for a 19-7 advantage.
Several times after that, the Hogs cut their deficit to less than double figures, only to see their opponents push it out back out to 10 points or more. The Rattlers' first half lead grew as large as 13 following a Markques Houston free throw with 50 seconds remaining in the period. TAMUK was able to close the half strong, however, scoring on a triple from Flowers and a last-second layup from Rashon Thomas to send the teams to the half with the score at 33-25.
The Hogs immediately went to work on eliminating their deficit after the break. Chauncey Thomas and senior Daniel Severo (Osasco, Brazil) combined for four early points to cut StMU's advantage in half and Flowers buried a three at the 18:00 mark to complete an 8-1 run that put TAMUK within 34-33.
Another Blue-and-Gold rally commenced moments later with the home side ahead 38-35 and it was led by sophomore Will Chayer (Corpus Christi, Texas). He followed two foul shots with a layup for his team's first lead since the score was 2-0. After the Rattlers forged a tie, Rashon Thomas converted a fast-break layup and Chauncey Thomas swished a jumper for the final points in an 8-1 burst for a 43-39 Hog lead with 14:15 on the clock.
TAMUK used a stretch of eight-points-in-a-row, which included back-to-back triples from Rashon Thomas to increase their lead to 10 with under 10 minutes to play before StMU could mount a comeback attempt. A stretch in which the home team scored 13 of 19 points and received a trio of treys from Caleb Jordan enabled them to cut the Hogs' lead to three and the Rattlers were still within striking distance at 64-60 with 5:16 remaining. Rashon Thomas was there to stem the tide, however. Another beyond-the-arc bucket from the senior touched off a 7-0 run to increase his team's edge back to 11 and his final triple of the night, coming with 50 seconds left, provided the final dagger.
"I think our guys settled down and began to adjust to St. Mary's defensive gameplan," said Estelle. "It was good to see Rashon and Tre both have good nights at the same time. Chauncey ran the team very well and distributed the ball efficiently. Dayante [McClellan] (Austin, Texas) was big on the defensive end and in the paint offensively."
The Javelinas will try and ride this momentum into their Thursday night matchup against No. 4 West Texas A&M at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas. It will be Pack the House night in Kingsville, as the Javelinas encourage all fans to come out and root on their team. 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.
