KINGSVILLE, Texas – Nine different players got on the scoresheet for the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team, led by senior John Mouton (Missouri City, Texas) and his game-high 13 points, and the Javelinas matched a program record with their 13th conference win of the season by vanquishing the St. Mary's Rattlers, 69-53, on Thursday night in Lone Star Conference action at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
TAMUK has matched the best LSC record in program history at 13-3, a mark set by the 1995-96 team, and they are 17-5 overall and are on a four-game win streak. The Rattlers have dropped six straight and are 5-11 in conference and 9-13 overall.
"We started off slow," said coach Johnny Estelle, "which is a tribute to St. Mary's. We settled down and started executing a little better on offense and getting stops on defense. John Mouton was phenomenal. He came in and gave us so much, but I also think it was a team effort and our culture had a lot to do with this win."
Mouton's 13 points were accompanied by nine rebounds, which also led all players, and he hit 6-of-10 from the floor. Senior Daniel Severo (Osasco, Brazil) and sophomore Will Chayer (Corpus Christi, Texas) contributed nine points and senior Rashon Thomas (Houston, Texas) and junior Dayante McClellan (Austin, Texas) scored eight. Sophomore Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas) matched his season-high and led all players with six assists.
The Rattlers were the first team out of the gate and they looked like they wanted to run away with this one. They tallied 12 of the game's first 14 points while the Hogs started 0-of-9 from the field, but the Blue and Gold soon caught fire.
Two John Guerra (Melville, Texas) free throws were followed by a McClellan layup and Guerra then drained a three, touching off a stretch in which the Javs scored 17 of 18 points to race in front, 19-13. The run was punctuated by a one-handed jam thrown down by Severo.
"Our crowd got behind us a little bit," said Estelle. "Creighton Avery gave us a spark. Dayante came in and John Guerra hit some shots and gave us some energy. Sometimes, you just need a spark."
TAMUK stretched its lead to 29-20 at the 2:59 mark, but is was quickly trimmed down to four. A pair of McClellan layups closed out the first half scoring and allowed the home team to hit halftime ahead 33-25.
With 18:38 remaining in the second half, LaMont Traylor hit a layup to bring StMU within six points. For more than 15 minutes after that, the Javelina lead never got larger than seven, but the Rattlers couldn't get closer than two points. Five different times, the visitors got within two and twice they had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead, but both opportunities, which came with the score at 50-48 and less than eight minutes left, went by the boards.
After a missed three by Marques Houston with 7:25 on the clock, Avery tossed in a jumper and the Hogs turned a fastbreak opportunity into a Mouton dunk soon after. A Traylor bucket put StMU team back within four, but two more from Chayer and a Rashon Thomas trey pushed the lead out to 59-50. Though Marques Houston responded in kind for the Rattlers, the night's final 10 points were scored by the Blue and Gold to wrap it up.
The Javelinas will be faced with another difficult task on Saturday, taking on the No. 8 St. Edward's Hilltoppers at the SPEC in a game with a 4 p.m. scheduled tip-off. 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.
