KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team broke their program record for three-pointers in a game with 17 and cruised to an 89-58 win over the Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions on Saturday afternoon in Lone Star Conference action at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
This is the fifth time in six seasons the Hogs have begun a season 2-0 and it's the third time in four years they've won their first two LSC games.
The Javs' 17 triples bested their old mark of 16, which they had reached twice, most recently on Nov. 17, 2017 against CSU-Pueblo. The record was originally set against Houston Baptist in 2002.
"When you win, you're always a happy coach," said coach Johnny Estelle. "This is the best shooting team I've ever coached, meaning they shoot the three-ball. That's a huge part of our offense. These kids are resilient. They've done a phenomenal job of having to go through the protocols, but I've not had one complaint and that's who they are. They're committed young men."
Leading the way in TAMUK's record-breaking charge was junior Ellis Jones (Houston, Texas), who hit 6-of-8 from beyond the arc on the way to a game-high 21 points. Jones was one of seven Hoggies to hit from three-point land and multiple treys also came from freshman Derek Luna (Palmview, Texas), junior Jordan Wilson (Blytheville, Ark.) and sophomore Wellington Stovall (Houston, Texas), who set a new career-high with nine points.
"We're playing with great confidence," said Jones. "I think that goes with the chemistry. This year's been different because of COVID, but our chemistry's been strong because we've been in group chats and we Zoomed in the summer and you can see it on the court."
Junior Will Chayer (Corpus Christi, Texas) registered the second double-double of his Javelina career with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He also added a pair of rejections.
The first half was all Blue and Gold, as they led by as many as 24, held the Lions to 25 percent from the field and hit 10-of-21 from beyond the arc. Treys from junior Sammy Brooks (Dallas, Texas) and Luna helped the Hogs open up an early 10-2 lead.
With the score at 15-5, three triples by Jones helped fuel an 11-3 spurt to boost TAMUK's edge to 26-8. The Lions scored the next four points before Chayer and Wilson responded with triples of their own, expanding the home team's advantage to 20 for the first time. The closest the Lions could get in the first after that was 18 points and the Javs took a 43-21 lead into the break.
After halftime, the Hogs wasted no time reestablishing control, with beyond the arc buckets from Luna and Wilson contributing to an 11-3 burst that made the score 54-22. That TAMUK stranglehold continued through the final 20 minutes, as the difference between the teams never shrunk below 26 points.
The Javelinas' final two buckets were the ones that broke the program record for threes in a game. Jones hit the team's 16th trey with 2:25 on the clock. Less than a minute later, freshman Marcus Jones (Cheneyville, La.) tossed in a triple for his first for collegiate bucket, giving the Javs a new school record.
The Javelinas will go on the road for the first time on Friday, when they visit the Angelo State Rams for a contest beginning at 7:30 p.m. Stay current with TAMUK men's basketball all year long 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.
