KINGSVILLE, Texas – Four Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas) free throws in the final 23 seconds provided the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team with the winning points and allowed them to sneak past the St. Edward's Hilltoppers, 83-82, on Saturday afternoon in Lone Star Conference action at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
The Javelinas have now matched their best 14-game start in program history at 13-1 and their 11 straight wins is also tied for their longest win streak ever. The Javs maintained a perfect home mark as well, improving to 9-0. The Hilltoppers have dropped four straight and are 8-5 overall and 6-4 in LSC play.
"This time of year, nobody wants to lose," said coach Johnny Estelle. "Guys are fighting on every possession and the game really slows down. You have to keep your guys focused on winning because its going to be a game of runs. You have to focus on concentration and effort and that's what you saw. You saw guys on both sides who didn't want to lose."
For the third straight game, junior Will Chayer (Corpus Christi, Texas) reached 20 points, finishing with exactly 20, four rebounds and two steals. Support came from juniors Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas) and Jordan Wilson (Blytheville, Ark.) who had 14 and 11 points, respectively, and senior Tre Flowers (Bryan, Texas) who logged 10. Wilson also led his side with nine rebounds. Avery and Flowers combined to go 10-for-10 on foul shots and Avery set a season-high with five assists.
The Hogs trailed by as many as 10 in the first half and they found themselves trailing by eight with more than six minutes gone in final period before going on a 16-2 run to grab a 67-61 advantage. SEU quickly eliminated that edge by tallying 12 of the next 16 points to make the score 73-71 with four minutes to play.
The score was tied twice by the Javs and with two minutes to play, two foul shots by Flowers pushed TAMUK in front 77-75. After SEU forged another tie and the Hogs went back ahead by a pair, Jake Krafka drained a trey with just over a minute remaining, giving the visitors an 80-79 edge.
Two Hilltopper free throws upped that lead to three, but then came Avery's first trip to the line in the final 30 seconds and his two makes brought the home side to within one.
On the inbound play that followed, Daniel Venzant was called for traveling and the Javs had the ball back with 21 seconds remaining. Avery drew another foul, went to line and hit both shots. After a three-point attempt from B.J. Maxwell rimmed out, the Javelinas could celebrate consecutive win No. 11.
By the end of the night, the lead had changed hands 16 times and there were 10 ties. TAMUK's comeback was in part due to a 55.6 shooting percentage in the second half and they also outrebounded St. Edward's, 32-28.
The next obstacle in the Javelinas' path is the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions, who the Hogs will visit for two games, with the first one scheduled for Friday night at 7 p.m. 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.
