FRISCO, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball program took down Dallas Baptist University on Friday at the Comerica Center to advance to the second round of the Lone Star Conference Men's Basketball Championship by a score of 71-66.

The Javelinas (21-8) fought back from an early deficit to the Patriots (21-9) and endured another push at the start of the second to advance to the semifinal round of the bracket.

The first half was a tale of runs between the squads as DBU held the early advantage on an 8-3 burst to start the contest. A Julian Miranda layup sparked the first run that was capped by a mid-range jumper from Jonathyn Washington at the 14:25 mark for the initial lead.

Senior John Mouton (Missouri City, Texas) ignited the Hogs' response as he dropped in a long two and added six more points over the next two minutes to put TAMUK up 14-8 with 12:02 showing. Mouton tacked on a trey and a classic three-point play by the time the dust had settled, while junior Tre Flowers (Bryan, Texas) added a long ball of his own.

Both sides went back-and-forth over the next five minutes of game time with a 30-16 cushion favoring the Javelinas with 6:23 remaining in the half. The Patriots put up the next nine points that cut the gap to 30-25 by the 3:35 mark as Chandler Jacobs kicked things off with a driving layup with 5:18 showing before a three-pointer from senior John Guerra (Melville, N.Y.) ended the drought for the Blue and Gold.

Mouton had the final say in the opening half with his trey in the final second setting the score at 36-28 heading into the locker rooms.

The second half saw DBU take control early with a layup from Miranda kick-starting a 13-3 run that put the score at 41-39 in favor of the Patriots. A layup from sophomore Will Chayer (Corpus Christi, Texas) and three from the stripe for senior Rashon Thomas (Houston, Texas) put the Hogs back ahead for good at 44-41 as DBU never got closer than two the rest of the way.

Each basket from the Patriots was summarily matched by the Javelinas shortly after, with Rashon Thomas draining a three following a dunk from Washington, while senior Chauncey Thomas (Plano Texas) teamed up with Mouton and posted six straight points after Washington completed a three-point play of his own.

Senior Daniel Severo (Osasco, Brazil) kept momentum squarely in possession of TAMUK as he grabbed his own missed shot for the put-back layup, while the next time down the floor from the Patriots saw a swipe and a slam with Mouton putting away the exclamation point at the 3:26 mark for an 11-point lead at 62-51.

DBU resorted to sending several Javelinas to the line in the final three minutes of play with junior Dayante McClellan (Austin, Texas) getting the first two at the line to keep the lead in double digits at 64-53. The Patriots added back-to-back layups from Jacobs and Washington, but a fastbreak layup coupled with two shots from the line from Flowers kept DBU at arms' length with a 69-59 edge favoring the Hogs.

Rashon Thomas provided the final say with two more from the stripe in the waning moments with the 71-66 final cemented shortly after, moving the Hogs on to the semifinal matchup.

Mouton led the Javelinas with 15 points on a 6-for-11 clip from the floor, adding six rebounds and two steals to his total. Rashon Thomas, meanwhile, tacked on 14 points with a 3-for-5 mark from beyond the arc along with four rebounds and two assists.

Severo added 10 points of his own to TAMUK's total along with five rebounds, two steals and a block, while Flowers rounded out the quartet with 10 points, two rebounds and two assists.

The Javelinas will face the winner of the matchup between St. Edward's and Tarleton in the semifinal round. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, March 7, at the Comerica Center.

Watch your Javelinas live today on the Mendoza's Pharmacy Javelina Sports Network. To keep up-to-date with Javelina men's basketball, follow the program at JavelinaAthletics.com, you can also follow the team on Twitter @JavelinaMBB and on Facebook at /JavelinaMBB

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