GUNNISON, Colorado – A back-and-forth affair at the highest gym in America needed overtime to find its conclusion, and the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team came up heartbreakingly short, falling to the Western Colorado Mountaineers 68-69.
The loss is the third straight for the Javelinas (1-3, LSC 0-0) as they come up empty handed on the road trip to the Rocky Mountains. The Mountaineers (2-2, RMAC 0-0) move back to .500 after going 1-1 on the weekend.
The Javelinas continued their trend of razor close first halves as both teams traded the lead in the first 20 minutes of play. Six Javelinas put points on the board, including 5 from
C.J. Smith and
Dillon Gooding and six points from
Isaiah Payne. The Mountaineers managed to stretch the lead to 10 midways through the half – the largest lead of the game – but the Javs managed to claw back.
Both teams came out firing after the break, scoring 20 points between them within the first five minutes. The Javelinas managed to take the lead with 8:20 remaining in regulation and stretched it to five with a 6-0 run before being reeled back in by the Mountaineers.
A tough night at the charity stripe kept the Javelinas from extending the lead further, shooting 7-of-12 in regulation. Rebounding also reared its ugly head once more for the Hogs, being outrebounded on the night, 36-48, to allow the Mountaineers to stay in the game.
A
C.J. Smith layup tied the game at 55-55 with 1:42 remaining in regulation as both teams remained scoreless from there to send us to OT after a missed jumper from WCU as the clock expired.
The game remained back and forth throughout the overtime period before WCU managed to push the lead to four with 18 seconds remaining.
Kavon Booker sunk a jumper to bring the lead back down to two and drew a shooting foul as the clock ticked under 10 seconds, but the story of free throws came into play once more.
Booker missed the free throw, and the Mountaineers sank the two free throws off the intentional foul to extend the lead to four once more, rendering a last second three-pointer from
Allen Singleton too little, too late.
The Javelinas finished the night 9-of-17 from the free throw line after going 2-of-5 during the OT period. The Mountaineers finished 15-of-17 from the charity stripe.
The Hogs forced 19 turnovers on the night, including 10 steals, scoring 19 points off of them alongside two blocks. Overall, TAMUK shot 37.8 percent from the field and 18.8 percent from behind the arc, going 28-of-74 and 3-of-16 respectively.
C.J. Smith was the top scorer for the Javelinas for the second night in a row, racking up a season-high 21 points on the night on 44.4 percent shooting. He also grabbed three apiece of assists, rebounds, and steals.
Isaiah Payne was the other double-digit scorer for the Javs with 14 points of his own as well as a team-leading seven rebounds alongside two assists.
Kavon Booker matched Payne in rebounding with seven while also gaining four points.
Jordan Henderson had a great defensive performance, swatting two blocks and grabbing three defensive boards (five total) as well as a steal.
UP NEXT
The Javelinas are back home in the SPEC for the first time this season as they take on Our Lady of the Lake on Wednesday, Nov. 22 at 4 p.m. It will be the Hogs' only match up for Thanksgiving week.
