FRISCO, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball program mounted a comeback effort midway through the second half against No. 9/9 St. Edward's on Saturday at the Comerica Center, but ended up short of the mark in the Lone Star Conference semifinals en route to a 71-68 loss.

The Javelinas (21-9) whittled away at the 16-point deficit from the Hilltoppers (27-3) in a seven-minute span late in the second but couldn't find the tying shot en route to the loss.

SEU started out with the hot hand as Jake Krafka put and Corey Shervill put away nine points from long range for a 13-4 edge by the 13:28 mark of the opening half. A pair of free throws from junior Dayante McClellan (Austin, Texas) broke the drought for TAMUK at 13:08 but the gap remained above six points for the next seven minutes of game time.

A layup from sophomore Will Chayer (Corpus Christi, Texas) was the first of eight for the Hogs as junior Tre Flowers (Bryan, Texas) tacked on a fastbreak layup and a trey that trimmed the deficit to five with 29-24 showing on the scoreboard at the 5:12 mark.

Both sides traded baskets from there with the Hilltoppers putting up two from beyond the arc, while McClellan had the last say for the Javelinas with a last-second bucket as the score showed 39-29 favoring SEU heading into the locker rooms

The Hogs put in work in the second half despite the Hilltoppers pushing their lead to 16 by the 13:44 mark of the frame. Sophomore Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas) drilled the three-pointer that sparked the Javelinas' comeback run, followed by a fastbreak layup from Flowers, a trey from senior Rashon Thomas (Houston, Texas) and a bucket at the stripe from senior Chauncey Thomas (Plano, Texas) to cut the gap to 55-48 with 11:18 to play.

SEU managed to keep the gap at seven with 5:21 remaining courtesy of four straight points from Shervill, but six points from Avery and a contested layup from McClellan over the next three minutes trimmed the deficit to one possession with 66-63 showing on the board with two minutes remaining.

A critical three from Ashton Spears set the gap back at six, but Rashon Thomas had the clutch response when he knocked down the response from beyond the arc for a 69-66 score showing.

After another nil possession from either side, Flowers put the Javelinas within striking distance as he had the chance to knot the game with an and-one at 19.6 showing on the clock. His would-be tying shot from the stripe bounced out of the iron and the rebound was gathered by SEU.

After two more points from the line, the Hogs had the final possession but the would-be tying three-ball missed the mark and the Javelinas suffered the 71-68 loss prior to selection Sunday as they await their tournament fate on Sunday, March 8.

Flowers finished with 19 points on 9-for-15 from the field to go with five rebounds and two assists.

Rashon Thomas poured in 11 off the bench to go with four boards and one assist, while Avery tacked on nine points of his own.

Following the most recent regional rankings, the Hogs were slotted seventh in the South Central Region prior to the LSC Championships. The selection show will take place on Sunday on NCAA.com.

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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