KINGSVILLE, Texas -- Will Chayer's putback layup with 1.3 seconds remaining lifted Texas A&M-Kingsville to a 59-58 win over Midwestern State Thursday night at the Steinke Center.

The Javelinas (13-8, 4-6 LSC) rallied from six points down with taking advantage of some of their own good fortune and from some tough luck by the Mustangs.

Tre Flowers banked in a 3-pointer late in the shot clock to pull Texas A&M-Kingsville to within three points moments after Jordan Teal made his way to the rim for a layup to give the Mustangs a 56-50 lead with 2:10 to play.

"We were looking to grow the lead with the good defense," MSU coach Justin Leslie said. "The bank 3-pointer was definitely some tough luck for us, but we had some guys who just didn't show up to play and compete."

Redshirt-freshman Amaechi Chukwu stepped up to carry the load the for the Mustangs, who overcame an eight-point second-half deficit to take the lead heading into the closing minutes.

Chukwu matched a season high with 16 points including Midwestern's only two points -- on a pair of free throws -- in the final two minutes.

Texas A&M-Kingsville's C.J. Smith answered with a driving layup to narrow the Mustangs' lead to 58-55 before the Javelinas forced another stop. Smith capitalized with another bucked in the paint to pull the Hoggies to within a point with 24 seconds to play.

Still in the bonus, Texas A&M-Kingsville fouled Terrell Wilson to send the junior to the line for the 1-and-1.

"The last play was hard luck. We wanted Terrell to have the ball in that situation and he wanted it." Leslie said. "He is a guy who is mentally there in those situations."

Wilson missed the front end allowed Chayer to grab the rebound and start the break which resulted in a corner 3-point attempt by Marcus Jones. Chayer was ready for the offside rebound and putback with 1.3 seconds to go.

"They took an extremely difficult shot and unfortunately the ball went to their big guy who put in a contested layup," Leslie said.

Wilson battled his way to another solid offensive game going for 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting to go along with four assists and four steals.

Redshirt-freshman Jordan Teal proved effective off of the bench finishing with eight points and four rebounds. He boasted a +/- of 7.

John Weger battled his way to a team best +/- of 11 finishing with one point. The senior grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Creighton Avery scored 16 points in 24 minutes off of the bench to lead Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Midwestern State (11-14, 7-6 LSC) takes on Texas A&M International Saturday afternoon at the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Center in Laredo. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.
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