KINGSVILLE, Texas -- November 11, 2017 -- After taking a two-point lead into the locker room at the half, and extending it to five with 17 minutes to play, the Chadron State College men's basketball team became shorthanded and suffered down the stretch run, losing 95-63 at Texas A&M-Kingsville Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles were without star guard
Darius Polley, who made the trip but incurred an injury prior to Friday's game. They also lost junior wing
Leigh Saffin within the first seven minutes Saturday, leaving them with eight players for most of the game.
"We were up two, we came out at the half, and punched them in the mouth," said CSC Head Coach
Houston Reed. "We had them on the ropes, and then because of our circumstances in the last 10 minutes, we couldn't get a shot off."
"We really guarded for 30 minutes," said Reed. "We took their best player out of the game. There was a lot of effort. They know who Chadron State is now."
CSC shot for a 63.6 field goal percentage in the first half, getting them to the halftime lead. Kingsville was up 33-18 with 7:07 left in the first, but the Eagles caught fire and worked inside for seven quick field goals right before the break.
Coming back out, Chadron State increased its lead to five, before the Javelinas recovered and battled to tie it up five times over a seven-minute stretch.
With 10 minutes remaining, Eagles' forward Jeremy Ruffin picked up three personal fouls within a few seconds of each other, and forward
Michael Johnson, who finished as CSC's leading scorer with 15 points, fouled out with 5:30 left. Kingsville capitalized on the downsized Chadron State roster by hitting inside shots and winning on the offensive glass. The result was a 43-11 run for the home team over the last 12 minutes.
CSC cooled to 40.9 percent shooting in the second half.
Kingsville was led by Jacolby Harris who got 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Kyren Block had 13 points and six boards to lead his team in caroms.
Chadron State is at Nebraska-Kearney on Wednesday, November 15, at 7 p.m. CT, for a non-conference matchup with the in-state rivals.
