CANYON, Texas – Despite four players scoring in double figures, including a team-high 15 points from Jordan Wilson (Blytheville, Ark.), the No. 14 Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team suffered a 91-64 defeat to the St. Edward's Hilltoppers in the Lone Star Conference Tournament semifinals at the First United Bank Center in Canyon, Texas on Friday night.
"I thought it was the worst game we played this year by far," said coach Johnny Estelle. "Give coach Cook and his staff and players credit, they did a great job. They couldn't miss and we couldn't make one. Our defense wasn't good tonight, but we weren't good in any form or fashion."
Wilson's 15 points came on 6-of-14 shooting and he also grabbed five rebounds. Freshman Derek Luna (Palmview, Texas) shot 5-of-8 from the floor for 13 points, senior Tre Flowers (Bryan, Texas) added 12 and junior Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas) tallied 11.
The Hilltoppers started the night by scoring five of the first six points and never trailed. With the score at 13-9, they went on a 9-0 run to push their lead to double figures for the first time. After a three by Flowers, SEU tallied 15 of the next 19 points to put the score at 37-16 and they kept that lead almost completely intact for the rest of the half, heading to the break with a 39-20 edge.
The closest the Hogs could get in the first half was within 18. They put together a 10-0 run late in the period that made the score 85-62, but could never seriously threaten their opponents' lead over the final 20 minutes.
"We got to shooting jump shots and they did a good job rebounding," said Estelle, "and they did a good job rebounding. We didn't get any second shots and the shots we got were contested. We had a little jitters maybe, but they shot on the same goals we did and made them. And we couldn't get stops. We pride ourselves on defense and tonight our defense wasn't very good."
The Javelinas now must wait to learn their fate in the South Central Region and hope the NCAA grants them entrance into the NCAA Tournament. 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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