TYLER, Texas – Texas A&M-Kingsville narrowly escaped UT Tyler on Thursday night, as sophomore Marcus Jones-Green nailed a game-winning three point shot with six seconds left to give the Javelinas a 58-57 win.
The winning basket as TAMUK's Dillon Gooding drove towards the basket forcing the Patriot defense to collapse and leaving Jones-Green unattended in three-point range where Gooding found him for the game winning shot.
"The Last possession was designed for Dillon to drive it to score or create an opportunity," said Coach Estelle describing the last-second theatrics. "Dillon made an outstanding play and hit Marcus for the open shot (which he hit)."
The win sees the Javelinas (17-8, 11-6 LSC) hold onto its one-game lead in the East Division of the Lone Star Conference.
Aside from Jones-Green's late heroics, the Hog offense was fueled by Gooding's game-high 16 points followed by senior Creighton Avery who posted 15 in the narrow win.
After a tight first half that saw TAMUK take a 31-27 lead into the break, the Javelinas opened the second half on an 8-2 run to take a 10 point, 39-29 lead at the 13:47 mark.
The Patriots came storming back however, connecting on seven of their first 12 shots of the second half to erase a 31-27 halftime deficit and took a 42-41 lead with 10:09 remaining in the game.
The game remained a one-possession contest for the rest of the 10 minutes of play from that point forward.
Trailing late by two with 1:50 remaining, Gooding converted an old-fashioned three-point play before a technical foul was assessed to the UT Tyler head coach granting the Javelinas two more free throws and a 55-53 lead.
The lead did not last long, however, as the Patriot's Terell Wilson converted two free throws with the game tied to give UT Tyler a 57-55 lead with 31 seconds left.
Following a timeout by coach Estelle, the Javelinas bided their time before Gooding's drive and dish with 10 seconds remaing finding Jones-Green who found the bottom of the net for the win.
UP NEXT
The Javelinas travel to Dallas to take on the Patriots of DBU.
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