WICHITA FALLS, Texas - The Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team came out of the gates slowly Saturday and never was able to get untracked falling 79-59 to Lone Star Conference leader Midwestern State on Saturday.
The Javelinas dropped to 9-10 on the year and 5-7 in the league while suffering their fourth-consecutive loss. The Mustangs improved their LSC-leading record to 10-2 and are 14-5 overall.
Midwestern State opened the contest with a 9-2 run and limited the Javelinas to just 11 points in the games first 12:53. Derrell Gibbs 3-point basket with 7:07 remaining in the first half gave the hosts a 23-point lead, 36-13. MSU would lead by 26, 48-22, at the break.
The Javelinas outscored the hosts 37-31 in the second half but could get no closer than the final margin.
Rashad Basey finished with 14 points, while Dwight Taylor added 13 for Kingsville which shot 48% in the second half to finish at 42.2%. Cam Adderly finished with 17 points for the Mustangs and Derek Kaster added 14 as the hosts shot 50.8% from the floor with eight treys.
Basey led the Javelinas with three steals as them finished with 12. Marshall Bonds, III and Daymon Warren each had two.
One of the biggest keys for MSU was its work on the board. The Mustangs pulled down 44 rebounds, while limiting the Hoggies to 20. Nineteen of the hosts rebound came on the offensive glass to just seven offensive caroms for Kingsville. MSU's Eddie D'Haiti led all players with nine, while Adam Mughmaw had seven for the Javelinas.
Kingsville will have plenty of time to regroup as it doesn't return to the court until Feb. 13 when it hosts Tarleton State at 8 p.m. at Kingsville Hampton Inn Court.
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