By: Kaleb Center, CSC Sports Information Director
Superb shooting and ball control by the visiting team, in the first half of Saturday night's men's basketball game in Chadron's Chicoine Center, led to a 10-point victory over the Chadron State College men. The Texas A&M University-Kingsville Javelinas turned the ball over nearly half as much as the Eagles in the first 20 minutes, while shooting 54.8 percent from the field and 5-for-10 from three in an 84-74 non-conference win for Kingsville.
The visiting team's first half field goal percentage included eight more attempts than CSC, given a turnover margin of 11 for the Eagles and six for the Javelinas, plus three team offensive rebounds. Kingsville led 39-31 at the half.
Despite fewer attempts, the Eagles nearly matched their opponent percentage-wise at 52.2 percent shooting in the first half. They also outshot the visitors from three, firing 71.4 percent.
A 10-2 run by Kingsville began after the Eagles' CJ Jennings hit a three at 14:12 to close the CSC's deficit to 13-8. During the run, CSC turned the ball over twice and hit only one of four shots. The rest of the half was Chadron State chipping into the Kingsville lead, and the visitor answering nearly shot for shot.
In the second half, CSC mostly kept pace with its opponent. The Eagles improved in the turnover and rebound departments, but its shooting dipped slightly while Kingsville's did not. CSC got it to within a five-point margin as late as 3:47 to play, but was hit with four fouls down the stretch while TAMUK went 8-for-8 at the line and was 2-of-3 from the field in the final four minutes.
Kingsville's Derek Luna was the star of the game, hitting 10 of 13 shots from the floor, which included 4-for-6 three point shooting. He was also perfect in four foul line tries for 28 points.
The Javelinas' CJ Smith and Marcus Jones helped with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Smith added a game-high six assists and two steals. Jones was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field with both of his three point attempts good.
The game's leading rebounder was starting forward Dayante McClellan with nine boards. He also scored eight points.
For CSC, Teddy Parham, Jr., shot a team-best 5-of-8 from the field and was 3-for-6 from long range, to finish with 15 points. He tied for the team lead with four assists.
CJ Jennings was next in scoring for the Eagles with 12 points, and he led the team with seven rebounds and four steals.
CSC goes on a road swing comprised of Nebraska-Kearney on Wednesday, followed by Sioux Falls on Friday, before returning for another home date with Haskell Indian Nations University the following Sunday at 4:30 following the women's game against Mount Marty University.