November 27, 2006
San Antonio – Remi Yusuf and Rickey Huckaby combined for 39 points, leading Texas A&M University-Kingsville to a big second half and a 78-65 win over St. Mary’s University in men’s basketball action Monday night at Bill Greehey Arena.
The teams battled to a 32-32 tie in the first half, but the Javelinas came out of the locker room red-hot to start the second period. TAMUK hit on 17-of-24 shots from the field (70.8 percent) in the second half to break away from the Rattlers in the final 12 minutes. After a Jawan Bailey (Sr., San Antonio) three-pointer cut the Javelina lead to just one at 47-46 with 12:17 to play. TAMUK then went on a 22-4 run to turn a tight game into a runaway at 68-50 with 4:41 to play. The Rattlers cut the deficit to 11 at one point, but could get no closer.
Rod Bellard (So., Beaumont) led St. Mary’s with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-8 from three-point range. Allen Coleman (Jr., Corpus Christi) also reached double figures with 12 points. As a team the Rattlers shot 42.6 percent (20-47) from the field, including 41.2 percent from three-point range (7-17).
For the Javelinas, Yusuf led the way with 21 points, while Huckaby added 18. Stephen Story had 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Wendell Mulkey was the fourth Jav to score in double figures with 10 points. As a team TAMUK hit on 57.1 percent (28-49) of their shots from the field.
With the loss the Rattlers fell to 3-3 on the season, while TAMUK improved to 4-0. St. Mary’s will return to action on Friday, December 8 when they host Montana State University-Billings at 7:30 p.m. at Bill Greehey Arena.