WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Senior Chauncey Thomas (Plano, Texas) and juniors Tre Flowers (Bryan, Texas) and Jamell Bradley (Converse, Texas) all recorded at least 15 points and the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team picked up their first road win over the Midwestern State Mustangs since 2008 by a score of 77-66 in Lone Star Conference action on Thursday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum in Wichita Falls, Texas.
This makes two wins in-a-row for TAMUK and their conference record improves to 11-3, still third-best in the LSC, with a 15-5 overall mark. Their 11 conference wins are the second-most in program history. MSU's LSC record is 3-10 and they are 3-16 overall.
"I was proud of how our guys responded in the second half," said coach Johnny Estelle. "We did not end the first half on a good note, but I thought we responded with a good defensive effort and better execution in the second half."
Thomas topped the Javelinas' stat sheet with a career-high 19 points, a number helped by a 9-for-9 night on free throws for the senior. He also led the squad with three assists. Flowers hit 6-of-9 from the floor to finish with 16 points and Bradley reset his season-high with 15, also hitting 6-of-9 and 3-of-5 on three-pointers. Sophomore Will Chayer's (Corpus Christi, Texas) seven rebounds was his team's highest total in that category.
"Chauncey Thomas was amazing in all facets of the game," said Estelle. "He proved tonight that he is a good leader and one of the best pure point guards in the conference. I thought Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas) also played extremely well and gave us a spark. Jamell Bradley really played well. He gave us a post presence we'd been missing and that proved to be the difference in the game. Tre Flowers was solid on both sides of the ball and is was good to see him shoot the ball better."
The lead changed hands more than once in the early stages of the first half, with MSU going ahead 7-5 on a three courtesy of D'monta Harris. TAMUK's response came on a Bradley trey, which touched off a 17-2 run and included five points each from Bradley and junior Dayante McClellan (Austin, Texas).
The Hogs' edge was as large as 13, which is where it stood with 3:51 left in half, only to see the Mustangs get back into the game before the break. They rattled off 12 of the period's final 15 points, including six in the final 30 seconds on a pair of threes and TAMUK's lead had been cut to 32-28 as the teams headed for the locker room.
Five consecutive points to start the final half stretched the Javelina lead to nine, but 11 of the next 14 were scored by the Mustangs, allowing them to almost completely erase the Hog lead and make the score 42-41. MSU closed to within a point one more time at 44-43 before Estelle and his team found its footing again.
The Javs used six straight points, four of them from Thomas, to increase their cushion to seven. When the home side closed to within four, TAMUK took off on a 15-5 run fueled by Bradley. The junior accounted for eight points during that stretch, starting his team's rally with a jumper and finishing it with a triple for a 65-51 advantage with just 3:18 on the clock.
The Mustangs did their best to creep back to within striking distance, shaving their deficit to 69-61 with 1:08 to play. The Javelinas salted away their win from the charity stripe, however, hitting 8-of-10 free throws over the final 68 seconds to crush any chance of a comeback.
"I do want to give coach Leslie credit for the job he and his staff did tonight," said Estelle. "They have had a lot of adversity with injuries this year and he and his staff are doing a good job under the circumstances."
The next stop on TAMUK's road trip is Lawton, Okla., where they'll visit the Cameron Aggies on Saturday for a 4 p.m. contest at Aggie Gym. Stay current with TAMUK men's basketball throughout the 2019-20 season by following @JavelinaMBB and @JavelinaSports on Twitter and Instagram, liking Javelina Men's Basketball on Facebook and subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy.
