Kingsville - Junior Guard
Allen Singleton hit a buzzer-beating jump shot to lift Texas A&M-Kingsville past Chadron State in overtime Saturday at the Steinke Physical Education Center.
With under 20 seconds left and the game tied,
Zyon Little drove into the paint and lost control of the ball. Singleton was in the right place at the right time, scooping up the ball and hoisting one before time expired. The ball hit off the back iron, then the front of the rim before falling in the hole, giving the Javelinas (2-0) the win.
Four Javelinas scored in double figures. Little led the way with a career-best 20 points, behind him was
Isaiah Payne with 15 points,
Nate Lacewell with 14 points and
Bryson Goldsmith with 10.
Jordan Henderson had a team-high eight rebounds, and a combination of Singleton and
James Livingston led the team with three assists each.
Neither team could pull away from each other throughout the contest, as the largest lead of the match would be in the first five minutes of the match. Texas A&M-Kingsville would go up by seven thanks to a 3-pointer from Little. Chadron State would come roaring back to take a one-point lead, but Payne put on a clinic, scoring back-to-back and-1's to retake the lead for the Javelinas. The Eagles stormed back again, but a combination of Little, Payne and Singleton would drive the Javelinas through halftime to keep the game at an even 25-25 standing halfway through.
In the second half, the Javelina offense began to click a little more. Everytime the Javelinas would build a lead however, the Eagles would come right back and tie it. A mid-range jumper from Goldsmith and another 3-pointer from Little put the Javelinas up five early in the third, but Chadron came right back and cut it back to a three point lead. Goldsmith drilled another three point to extend the lead to six, but little by little the Eagles would even the game back up.
The game eventually got to a 61-59 stalemate after the Javelina defense buckled down on the Eagles offense. The Texas A&M-Kingsville defense would eventually crack however, as a late layup from Chadron State tied it up at 62-62. Both Payne and Singleton had opportunities to end it, but neither got clean looks as the game went to overtime.
With a fresh five minutes on the clock, the Javelinas got to work on winning their second game of the season. Lacewell would hit an and-1 layup to secure a one point lead for the Javelinas as well as a late jumper to put Texas A&M-Kingsville up two late. A Chadron State contested layup tied it once again at 71, then Singleton drilled a game winner for the Javelinas second straight win.
Texas A&M-Kingsville hits the road for the first time this season, taking on MSU-Denver Nov. 14 at the Auraria Event Center. Fans of the Javelinas can watch from free on the RMAC network or follow live coverage of the game at JavelinaMBB on Twitter.
