KINGSVILLE, Texas - The Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball broke open a six-point game in the second half on Thursday night with a 21-5 run en route to an 80-55 victory over Texas Lutheran on Kingsville Hampton Inn Court.
Rashad Basey led all players with 21 points, while Dwight Taylor added 11 as the Javelinas rebounded from its 67-60 loss to Texas A&M International the night before. The Bulldogs were playing their first regular-season game of the year.
Leading 37-31 less than two minutes into the second half, Reid Wallace ignited the decisive run with a three-point basket and Basey added a jumper. After a bucket by Adam Mughmaw, Taylor hit a pair of three-point buckets for a 50-36 lead at the 13:44 mark. Eight straight points in the paint by the Javelinas closed out the run for a 58-36 advantage with 10 minutes remaining.
The Javelinas would let the visitors get no closer than 17 points the remainder of the way.
In the first half, each team struggled with its shooting with the hosts building a slight 34-28 lead at the break. Kingsville hit 10-of-28 from the floor, while TLU was 8-of-23.
Basey kept the Hoggies afloat with 15 of his 21 in the first half. He was 4-of-7 from the field and 6-of-7 from the line. He also had a team-best four rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
The visitors led six minutes into the game by three, but Thomas Diaz's trey tied the game at 13 at the 13:57 mark. Taylor followed with another long-range shot to give Kingsville the lead 16-13. The Javelinas would not relinquish the lead.
For the game, Kingsville hit 45.2% from the floor hitting almost 53% in the second half. The Javelinas controlled the paint outscoring the visitors 30-16. Jordan Huber's late three gave the hosts nine for the game.
Kingsville also took advantage of 24 TLU turnovers by turning them into 27 points. Sixteen of the turnovers were steals by the defense with Daymon Warren swiping four. Five others had two steals apiece. The Hoggies won the rebounding war 39-34 with six players grabbing four-or-more boards.
Brendan Holderread led the Bulldogs in points with 12 and rebounds with seven. TLU scored 27 points from the foul line.
Kingsville hosts St. Edward's next Tuesday at 7 p.m., while next Friday and Saturday both the men and women hold their annual Holiday Inn Emerald Beach Thanksgiving Classic.
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