KINGSVILLE, Texas – Junior Jordan Wilson (Blytheville, Texas) scored 10 points over the game's final seven minutes and the No. 10 Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team closed the night on 17-4 run to earn a come-from behind win over the UT Tyler Patriots, 56-52, in Lone Star Conference action on Saturday night at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
"This time of year, it's about heart and determination and the will to win," said coach Johnny Estelle. "Coach Wilson is a phenomenal coach and he's a hard guy to play against because he has good talent, but he also has a great scheme that makes it difficult to get into a rhythm. There are some things that we can correct that we have to correct really quickly before Tuesday."
Wilson ended the night with a game-high 15 points he also led all players with nine rebounds. Junior Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas) contributed 13 points. Avery finishes the regular season having scored in double figures in 13 of his team's 16 games.
The Hogs led for the majority of the first half and went ahead by as many eight, but the Patriots used an 11-0 run to move in front 25-22 and they took a 27-26 edge into halftime. TAMUK took a three-point lead early in the second half at 35-32, but 16 of the next 20 points were scored by the visitors, who lead 48-39 with less than seven minutes to play. Unfortunately for UTT, they wouldn't hit another shot from the floor for the rest of the event, leaving the door open for a Javelina comeback.
A layup by Wilson started the uprising and Avery followed with a another bucket before Wilson drew a foul and hit one-of-two from the line. After his second attempt from the charity stripe missed, Wilson grabbed his own rebound and tossed in a wild three with 3:58 to play, cutting the deficit to one. He added two more foul shots soon after to put the Javs in front by one.
The Javelina was pushed out to four thanks to a Majors triple before UTT got back within two at the 2:20 mark. TAMUK would hang on to that lead and twice used free throws to increase it to four, enough to thwart any late Patriot heroics.
The next game for TAMUK will be in the 2021 LSC Tournament and the Javelinas will be at home for the first round, which will pit them against the Angelo State Rams at the SPEC on Tuesday. 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. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy.
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