KINGSVILLE, Texas – Three different Javelinas scored in double figures, but the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team saw a late lead erased by the Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions and suffered 63-60 defeat on Thursday night in Lone Star Conference action at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
The Javelinas are now 9-4 overall and 0-2 in LSC play. UAFS improves to 4-3 league play and 10-8 on the season.
The Hogs' leading scorer was sophomore C.J. Smith (Mansfield, Texas), who tallied 12 points and also snatched three steals. Sophomore Jake Majors (Corpus Christi, Texas) matched his season-high with 11 points and junior Will Chayer (Corpus Christi, Texas) shot 4-of-5- from the field for 10 points while grabbing a season-high eight rebounds.
The game's first multi-possession lead belonged to the Lions, who put together a 10-0 run to jump out to a 14-6 edge. TAMUK responded by scoring 11 of the next 14 points, a stretch that included four points from C.J. Smith and ended with the score tied at 17.
The Lions retook the initiative with five straight points, but an 11-2 Javelina spurt that included two Majors triples staked the Javs to a 28-24 advantage. The Javelinas maintained the lead into halftime, entering the break ahead 31-29.
The Hogs held a 35-31 edge with 18:15 to play in the second half, but after UAFS cut that to one, the game went 15 minutes without either side going up by more than three points. The Javelinas ended that trend with 2:29 on the clock when junior Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas) sank a jumper to make the score 57-53.
The Javelina lead eventually reached seven at 60-53, but the Javelinas couldn't find a way to add to their total after that. UAFS hit four of their last five shots and scored eight points in the final 35 seconds to come from behind and earn the victory.
The Javelinas will get another chance to go to work on the home court on Saturday, when they'll host Oklahoma Christian at 4 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.
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