KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team opens their postseason at the Lone Star Conference tournament in Frisco, Texas as the No. 2 seed taking on a familiar foe in No. 7 seed St. Mary's in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.
All games for the Lone Star Conference Men's Basketball Championship will be played inside the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.
The Javelinas and Rattlers split their two regular season meetings earlier in the year, with the road team winning both meetings. Prior to the Rattlers, 62-59 win in Kingsville on Jan. 28, the Javelinas had won the previous eight matchups including a 70-64 win over StMU in the conference semifinals last season to get TAMUK into the conference championship game.
The Hogs earned the No. 2 seed by securing an East Division Title and a tiebreaker over St. Edward's with a 10-4 record in the East Division. TAMUK is also currently ranked eighth in the South Central Regional Rankings as announced by the NCAA yesterday.
As a team this season, the Javs are fueled by their defense posting a program best turnover margin of plus 5.4 good for second best in the LSC and seventh best in all of Division II, while also having the second highest scoring defense with a mark of 65.9 in the league and second best overall scoring margin of plus 7.8.
Offensively, the Blue and Gold have been led by All-LSC Second-Team member, C.J. Smith who has averaged a team best 11.4 points per game while shooting 39.7 percent from the field and totaling 80 assists across the regular season.
Fellow, All-LSC Second-Team member, Dillon Gooding has had a standout season in his first year as a Javelina averaging 9.9 points a game including a season high with 25 against Texas A&M-International in the Javelinas' 71-68 win to clinch the top spot in the East Division. The junior transfer also led the Javelinas in free throw attempted and free throw percentage going 104-for-126 from the charity stripe shooting 82.5 percent on the season.
The Rattlers are led by a two headed monster in seniors Caleb Jordan and Emmanuel Ewuzie. Over the last month of the season, Jordan averaged 17.88 points per game while shooting over 90 percent from the free throw line and tacking on 10 steals across the last eight regular season games.
Ewuzie has been a force down low for StMU leading the LSC in blocks averaging two per game with 54 total blocks this season.
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Tickets are available as single-session passes. Prices are $18 for adults and $12 for students. Each single-session ticket includes two tournament games and is redeemable for the specified session only. Tickets can be purchased at Comerica Center Box Office or online through Ticketmaster (ticketmaster.com) now through the end of the tournament. Tickets purchased on Ticketmaster are subject to additional fees and taxes. No additional fees will be applied to tickets purchased at Comerica Center Box Office.
Suites at Comerica Center are also available and offer the opportunity for fans to watch the tournament in style from one of the venue's premium suites. Suite packages include 14 tickets with the flexibility to purchase each suite on a per-session basis. For more information, click here.
All seven games will be broadcast exclusively on the LSC Digital Network at LoneStarConferenceNetwork.com or the LSC Digital Network OTT app. Fans can purchase an LSC Basketball Championship Day Pass for $10 that will provide access to all tournament games broadcast that day and archived games from earlier rounds.
To keep up with the Javelinas all season long visit javelinaathletics.com to find links to live stats and streaming information as well as a recap at the end of each contest. Fans can learn more about the Javelina men's basketball team 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.
Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network . Get the Official Javelina Athletics Mobile App today! Download on the App Store or Get It on Google Play to keep up with all the news, scores and updates of your favorite Javelinas.
