KINGSVILLE, Texas – Sophomore Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas) set a season-high with 14 points and senior John Mouton (Missouri City, Texas) put up 11 points with nine rebounds, but the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team suffered its first home loss of the season, a 75-64 setback to the No. 4 West Texas A&M Buffaloes in Lone Star Conference action on Thursday night at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
For TAMUK, this represents their third conference loss of the year, putting their record at 9-3 with a 13-5 overall mark. WT won it's ninth straight, went to 10-1 in the LSC and 18-1 overall.
Avery's 14 points bested his previous season-high of 10 and he reached that total by hitting 6-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-2 on free throws. He also led the squad with four assists. Mouton's nine rebounds were the most on the Hogs and tied for a game-high.
WT got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 13-6 advantage that included five quick points from Derrick Geddis. TAMUK then put together its first run of the night. A layup by junior Dayante McClellan (Austin, Texas) started a stretch in which the Hogs scored 11 of 13 points and senior Daniel Severo (Osasco, Brazil) knocked down the final basket, sinking a triple for a 17-15 Javelina lead.
The Buffs answered with a 9-1 burst for a 25-17 advantage and spent most of the half's remaining eight minutes keeping TAMUK from getting much closer. A bucket courtesy of junior Tre Flowers (Bryan, Texas) with under a minute remaining brought TAMUK to within 35-29, which was still the score when the teams went to halftime.
A Mouton trey after a Qua Grant layup pulled TAMUK within five in the opening moments of the second half, but WT tallied the next nine points and 13 of the next 15 to push their lead to 50-32. The Javs got back to within 12 thanks to scores by Avery and senior Rashon Thomas (Houston, Texas), but the Buffs responded with seven-in-a-row for a 19-point edge with 10:50 on the clock.
The Hogs' deficit against reached 19 at the 6:32 mark with the score at 63-44. From there, the Javs outscored WT, 20-12, getting as close as nine with 11 seconds remaining before the clock ran out.
Another chance for TAMUK comes on Saturday, when they'll host Eastern New Mexico at the SPEC for a 4 p.m. tip-off. 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.
