RAPID CITY, S. D. – Freshman Derek Luna (Palmview, Texas) tied a program record with nine three-pointers and poured in career-high 27 points, but the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team suffered an 84-72 defeat to the South Dakota Mines Hardrockers on Friday night at the King Center in Rapid City, S.D.
"A tale of two halves," said coach Johnny Estelle. "You cannot play the way we did in the first half against a good team on the road. They are a well-coached team that can create many issues offensively because of their system and ability to shoot the ball. We were not disciplined on offense and defense tonight, which cost us."
Luna is the third Javelina to reach this mark and he did it on 9-of-15 shooting and shot 9-of-14 from beyond the arc. The first played to accomplish this feat was Johnny Estelle, who set the record on March 2nd, 1996 and it was matched on Nov. 30th, 2019 by Tre Flowers (Bryan, Texas).
Luna's 27 points were a team-high and sophomore C.J. Smith (Mansfield, Texas) contributed 22 to go with seven rebounds and a game-high five assists. Smith's seven boards tied for a team-high with senior Dayante McClellan (Austin, Texas).
The Hardrockers came out of the gates firing and shot 73 percent from the field in the first half. They used a 10-0 run to grab an early 16-5 lead. Luna and Smith combined for 12 points over the next eight minutes to cut that deficit to four at the 7:45 mark, but the Hardrockers outscored the Javelinas 25-9 over the remainder of the period and tallied the final 10 points of the half to take a 49-29 edge into the break.
At the start of the second half, it was TAMUK that seized the initiative, starting with nine straight points on three treys, two of them courtesy of Luna. After a pair of free throws for the home team, TAMUK outscored their hosts 12-4 over a five minute stretch to close to within 55-50.
The home team managed to push its lead back to 10 at 60-50, but the Javelinas put together another charge that started with Luna's record tying three at the 10:24 mark. Eight of the next nine points belonged to the Blue and Gold, putting them just three points behind with 9:10 to play.
Unfortunately for the visitors, they couldn't find a way to draw even. The Hardrockers soon increased their lead to nine at 67-58 and although the Hogs were able to shave that to four, a 9-0 run by the home team created a 13-point deficit that proved to be too difficult to overcome before the final buzzer sounded.
"There were some encouraging moments from tonight that we can build on in the future," said Estelle, "and the things that we struggled with can be corrected."
TAMUK took 41 threes on the night, the most in a single game in program history, hitting 14 for a percentage of 36.8. Overall the Javelinas shot 36.8 percent from the floor compared to 51.1 percent for South Dakota Mines. The Hogs finished the night plus-seven in turnovers, forcing 13 while only turning the ball over six times.
The Javelinas will have another shot at their first win of the year on Saturday, when they'll visit the Chadron State Eagles for an 8 p.m. matchup in Chadron, Neb. Fans can keep up with Javelina men's basketball throughout the season by following @JavelinaMBB on Twitter and Instagram, liking Texas A&M University-Kingsville Men's Basketball on Facebook, subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube channel and visiting Javelinaathletics.com. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy.
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