Texas A&M Kingsville 95, Chadron State 63
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.
Texas A&M International 72, Chadron State 64
Playing without their team leader and only senior, Darius Polley, the Chadron State men’s basketball team kept things close, but fell to Texas A&M International 72-64 here Friday night in the season opener for both teams.
Chadron State coach Houston Reed said Polley, the Eagles’ top scorer last season, sustained a back injury in practice on Thursday shortly after the Eagles arrived in south Texas for the first of two games during a “conference challenge” this weekend.
“He tried to play but couldn’t, so we had to go a lot of pups,” Reed said. “They played hard, but it took us a while to get settled in and we came away a little short.”
The Eagles shot just 25 percent from the field in the first half and trailed 30-24 at halftime. They improved to 48 percent in the second half, when the Dust Devils outscored them only 42-40.
For the game, the Texas team shot 47.2 percent (25-53) from the field, including 12 of 26 from 3-point range, and Chadron State hit 38.2 percent (15-31), including 8 of 24 from behind the arc.
Seniors Jeremy Wright and Dan Milota, the only returning members of last year’s International team, paced the Dust Devils with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Xabier Gomez and Chris McDonald each added 11.
Freshman Dru Kuxhausen led Chadron State with 14 points, followed by transfers Jordan Mills with 13 and Jaisean Jackson with 12. Sophomore Michael Johnson added eight points and shared game rebounding honors with teammate Leigh Saffin with eight apiece.
The Eagles outrebounded International 41-33.
Chadron State will play at Texas A&M-Kingsville today (Saturday) at 1 p.m.
Chadron State 24 40 —-64
Texas A&M Int. 30 42 —-72
Chadron State—Dru Kuxhausen 14, Jordan Mills 13, Jaisen Jackson 12, Michael Johnson 8, Leigh Saffin 6, Jeremy Ruffin 5, Vonsinh Sayaloune 4, Walker Andrew 2. Totals: 21-55 (8-24) 14-21 64 points, 41 rebounds, 15 turnovers.
Texas A&M International—Jeremy Wright 16, Dan Milota 15, Xabier Gomez 11, Chris McDonald 11, Kamari Robinson 7, Shea Garland 6, Danny Spinuzza 3, Marek Hajek 3. Totals: 25-53 (12-26) 10-15 72 points, 33 rebounds, 14 turnovers.