KINGSVILLE, Texas – Texas A&M-Kingsville went on a 20-4 run midway through the first half, then maintained an advantage the rest of the way in a 78-63 Lone Star Conference South Division win over Midwestern State Saturday at Steinke Center.

The loss drops the Mustangs to 11-12 on the season and 3-6 in division play, while the Javelinas improved to 16-8 and 5-4.

"We struggled shooting the basketball tonight," MSU coach Jeff Ray said. "We changed a lot of things in the past days in practice in an effort to get to the free-throw line tonight, but that didn't happen."

The emphasis on the interior led to big games from Trajinski Grigsby, who registered his ninth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Christopher Reay, who had 12 points and four rebounds.

The Mustangs also got a solid performance from senior guard Chris Davis, who tallied a game-high 19 points on the strength of a 7-of-10 effort from the charity stripe. He also pulled down nine rebounds.

The trio did account for each of the Mustangs' 17 free-throw attempts, but it was half of the amount of the Javelinas, who connected on 27 of 35 charity attempts as a team.

"We did get it inside pretty well," Ray said. "But we really never drew enough fouls. It took our guards out of rhythm and they are our best scorers."

Junior guard Nolan Richardson IV finished with 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting, while senior 3-point artist Jeremy Ford failed to reach double digits for the first time in six contests with six points on a pair of 3s.

That was all the scoring the Mustangs could muster as they failed to notch a single bench point which was an area where Texas A&M-Kingsville excelled.

The Javelinas were bolstered by a pair of reserves.

Junior guard Naquawn Lee, fired in nine of his 10 free-throw opportunities to finish with 17 points in 21 minutes, while senior center Stephen Story had 13 points in 22 minutes on the strength of a 7-for-7 effort from the foul line.

Midwestern State raced out to an 11-4 lead five minutes into the contest before the Javelinas reeled a 20-4 run and led 24-15 when Wendell Mulkey put back his own missed layup off of a steal at the 8:16-mark of the first half.

Texas A&M-Kingsville stretched the advantage to a 35-22 halftime lead before the Mustangs used a 9-2 rally early in the second half to trim the Javelina lead to 39-35 when Davis hit a 15-foot jumper with 14:52 to go.

Mulkey, who finished with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting, scored three-straight layups to key a quick 8-0 run to push the Texas A&M-Kingsville advantage back to double digits where it would remain the rest of the way.

The Mustangs endured a 40.4 percent shooting night including a 6-of-24 effort from the 3-point arc.

"The kids are still working hard, fight all the time and play hard," Ray said. "The outcome hasn't always been how we like it."

Midwestern State plays host to Angelo State in its home finale Wednesday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m.