KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team held the St. Mary's Rattlers to 28 percent shooting, senior Tre Flowers (Bryan, Texas) scored 14 points and sophomore C.J. Smith (Mansfield, Texas) added 13 as the Hogs trampled the Rattlers, 74-55, in Lone Star Conference action on Saturday evening at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
The win snaps a three-game skid for TAMUK and puts them at 11-7 overall and 2-5 in the LSC. St. Mary's loss ends a seven-game win streak and they are now 10-8 for the season and 7-2 in league play.
"I thought our kids really were focused," said coach Johnny Estelle. "They were really locked in. That was a very emotional game on Thursday and we've had a few of those back-to-back, but these kids really are battling. They came back and put it all together. We always talk about playing well in February and if we continue playing like we did tonight, I think they'll be some good things happening."
Flowers has now led the Javelinas in scoring in two of his last three games and his 14 points on Saturday came on 6-of-10 shooting with a season-high four assists. For Smith, this marks four straight games in double figures after he hit 5-of-11 from the floor, also dropped four dimes and claimed five rebounds.
"We wanted to get off to a good start," said Flowers. "The first four minutes, we executed and got the shots we wanted. Once that happened, the game became easy."
Junior Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas) led all players in assists with six, while senior Dayante McClellan (Austin, Texas) snatched a game-high eight rebounds.
The Javelinas and Rattlers traded buckets for the first six minutes, with TAMUK owning a slight, 15-13 edge, but then came the night's first run. Over a seven minute stretch the Javs outscored their guests, 19-4, widening their lead to 17 in the process. Smith contributed five points during that stretch, including a three-point play.
Before the first half was over, the Hogs' lead grew as large as 18 before they took a 42-27 edge into the break.
A Kobe McGee layup got the Rattlers on the board first in the second half, but the Javs used seven straight points soon after to increase their lead to 20 and Flowers and Smith would each contribute five points to a 15-4 burst later in the period that made the score 68-43. The Javelinas sailed the rest of the way as they picked up their sixth straight win over St. Mary's.
The next assignment for the Javelinas brings them to San Angelo, Texas, where they'll take on the Angelo State Rams on Thursday. 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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