FRISCO – St. Edward's men's basketball shot over 50 percent from the floor and over 60 percent from 3-point range in the first half and hung on to defeat Texas A&M-Kingsville, 71-68, Saturday evening in the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Championship.
 
St. Edward's came out of the gate on fire from the perimeter to open on an 11-4 run. The Hilltoppers pressed on, shooting 61.5 percent (8-13) from three-point range in the first half to take a ten-point lead into the locker room, 39-29.
 
ASHTON SPEARS had 19 points in the first 20 minutes of the contest, going 6-11 from the floor and 4-6 from long distance.
 
SEU started the second half on a similar note and led by 16 points with 13:21 to play. Texas A&M-Kingsville refused to go quietly and started to chip away at the lead just as the St. Edward's offense went quiet. The Javelinas pulled within three, 58-55, with 7:33 to go and hung close the rest of the way.
 
Another three by Spears put SEU up six, 69-63, with 1:39 remaining. Kingsville had the answer again and came within three once again.
 
St. Edward's missed the front end of a one-and-one that would have sealed the win and TAMUK's Flowers secured the rebound and went the length of the floor to hit a layup while drawing the foul to pull the Javelinas within one, 69-68.
 
Flowers missed the free throw with JAKE KRAFKA securing the rebound with 14 ticks left on the clock. Spears drew the foul and hit both free throws to put St. Edward's back on top by three.
 
TAMUK only got one look at the basket as SEU closed out the win on the defensive end.
 
Spears led with 29 points, going 9 of 24 from the floor and 6 of13 from 3-point range. COREY SHERVILL added 15 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double, pulling down nine boards. DORIAN LOPEZ led on the glass with 12 rebounds while AUGUST HAAS posted nine assists.
 
St. Edward's moves to 27-3 on the season and look to win their second consecutive conference championship and first Lone Star Conference title on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.




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