FRISCO, Texas – Sophomore Jake Majors (Corpus Christi, Texas) buried a go-ahead three-pointer with 6.7 seconds left the 12th-seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team held on for a 72-69 victory over the top-seeded and No. 4 Lubbock Christian Chaparrals in the Lone Star Conference Tournament Semifinals on Saturday at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.
The Javelinas, who've won four-in-a-row and are 18-9 on the season, will now play for the LSC Tournament Championship on Saturday against the West Texas A&M Buffaloes. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
The fourth-ranked Chaps are the highest ranked opponent the Javelinas have ever defeated in regular season or postseason play.
"These kids have worked extremely hard," said coach Johnny Estelle. "The heart in these young men, the fight and the pride that they exhibit every day, not only on the court but in the classroom, I couldn't be more proud."
Four different Hogs scored in double figures led by junior Jordan Wilson (Blytheville, Ark.), who set a season-high with 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting and 5-of-6 on threes. Wilson also dished out four assists.
Freshman Derek Luna (Palmview, Texas) finished with 16 and senior Dayante McClellan (Austin, Texas) scored 11 with 13 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Junior Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas) added 10 points and four dimes. Majors knocked down 3-of-4 from the field for nine points.
The Hogs raced out of the gate, scoring the game's first six points on treys by Luna and Wilson and grabbing an early 11-3 edge. After LCU got to within six, eight straight points from Luna fueled a 16-5 run that built TAMUK's lead to 35-18. LCU spent the rest of the half chipping away at their deficit, but the Hogs still owned a 47-34 edge when the contest hit halftime.
The second half began with the Chaps continuing to shave points off TAMUK's lead, slicing it to seven in the first five minutes. After a jumper from Wilson pushed the difference back to nine at 56-47, LCU tallied the next eight points to close within one with 10:31 to play.
Scores from both teams put the score at 65-64 in TAMUK's favor with four minutes remaining and the score stayed frozen for almost three minutes until a Rowan Mackenzie triple allowed the Chaps to take their first lead of the second half. One minute later, Avery tied the score with a layup, only for LCU to answer with a bucket of their own with 15 seconds on the clock.
After a timeout, Avery found Majors in the corner on the inbound play and the sophomore from Corpus Christi knocked down the go-ahead triple for the day's final lead change. One more Javelina stop and two Marcus Jones (Cheneyville, Ark.) free throws was all that was needed to ice another TAMUK triumph.
"I'm very grateful to have a great staff," said Estelle. "Omar Gonzalez is the best assistant coach in the country and he stayed up all night preparing our team and gave us a chance to win. I get credit for the win, but we all win because we're a family."
To follow all the action on Sunday, visit Javelinaathletics.com where links will be available for live video and live stats. 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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