Men's Basketball Hands Javelinas First Divisional Loss

KINGSVILLE, Texas – Undefeated no more. The St. Mary's Men's Basketball team not only ended an eight-game losing skid to Texas A&M Kingsville, but they snapped the Javelinas perfect record in the East Division of Lone Star Conference play with a come-from-behind 62-59 victory on Saturday afternoon.
 
After a sloppy first half that saw both teams shoot just under 26 percent from the field, the Rattlers (11-8, 8-6 Lone Star) came out refocused in the second half to connect on 60 percent of their shots and build a nine-point lead, 49-40 with 6:28 remaining. The Javelinas (15-7, 9-5 LSC) chipped away at the lead, but couldn't get closer than the final margin of three points.
 
Senior Ryan Leonard (Kerry, Ireland) led all scorers with 21 points, 16 of which came in the second half, while junior guard Jalon Johnson (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) added 13 for the game on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor.
 
Both Mamady Djikine (Paris, France) and Emmanuel Ewuzie (San Antonio) brought down seven rebounds and had two blocked shots each. Leonard paced the team with three steals while Johnson had three assists.
 
The Javelinas outrebounded the Rattlers 46-to-40 on the day and grabbed 23 boards on the offensive end of the floor. Despite those 23 offensive rebounds, TAMUK scored only 12 second chance points, while the Rattlers turned 13 o-boards into 14 second chance points.
 
Isaiah Payne led the Javelinas with 15 points, while Kavon Booker came off the bench to lead the game with nine rebounds and five blocked shots.
 
The win for the Rattlers is the first in the series since 2018 and gives StMU the 65-64 edge in the all-time series. It is the 29th victory in Kingsville in 64 tries, snapping a three-game skid in the SPEC (Steinke Physical Education Center). 
 
The victory is the third-straight for the Rattlers as they head into a three-game week. StMU travels to Austin for a Tuesday matchup with rival, St. Edward's before hosting UT Tyler on Thursday and DBU on Saturday.