BEAUMONT – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball
team hit a season-high 55% from the floor and had a season-low
eight turnovers Wednesday night as they snapped a Lamar's 20-game
home winning streak with an 89-71 win at the Montagne Center.
"We ran our
flex offense and were able to get basket after basket," said
Islander head coach Perry Clark. "With flex the flex the guys were
able to use their own abilities to score. We also were able to get
some stops to hold them at bay.
"One of the
things I did before the shootaround was read off our shooting
stats. There is nothing more humbling than hearing your shooting
numbers when your stats aren't very good."
With the win,
the Islanders move to 10-9 on the year and are the last remaining
team unbeaten in Southland Conference play at 4-0. With the win,
TAMUCC surpassed its win total of nine a season ago and have
recorded its ninth 10-win season in 10 years since the program
restarted.
The Cardinals
fall to 10-7 on the year and 1-3 in the league. Their home winning
streak was the fifth longest in the country. It was the first time
TAMUCC has beaten Lamar in school history and the Islanders are now
1-4 since the program was restarted. Lamar was 13-0 against when
the school was known as the University of Corpus Christi.
Down 19-11 when
Charlie Harper hit a jumper for Lamar, the Islander offense heated
up in a hurry. Tim Green began a 26-11 run over the next six
minutes with a three-point baskets and had 10 of his 17 points in
the spurt.
Filip Toncinic,
Shamar Coombs, Jawan Nelson, Marcus Hammonds and Green again each
hit three-point baskets in the run as A&M-Corpus Christi
drained six straight. Horace Bond added a three late in the half
that gave the visitors a 47-33 lead with under a minute in the half
and TAMUCC led 47-35 at the break. The Islanders finished the half
7-of-12 from behind the arc and was 8-of-15 for a season-best
53.3%.
In the second
half, the Islanders went inside with six of their first eight
points of the half in the paint. Bond's layin at the 17:23 mark
made it a 55-37 contest. Even with their prowess outside early,
A&M-Corpus Christi out-scored Lamar 37-20 in the paint.
Lamar would
chip away pulling to within seven, 62-55, with 12:41 to go on a
three-point basket by Kenny Dawkins and a pair of Ashton Hall free
throws. Dawkins, who did not start, came off the bench to score 17
points despite being hampered by an injury.
Bond ignited an
9-0 Islander run when he scored on a lob on an inbound pass that
pushed the lead back to 16 with 9:40 left.
A basket by
Lamar's Jay Brown pulled the hosts to within 12 with 9:22 left but
they would get no closer. Brown had a game-high 12 rebounds and
blocked nine shots.
Kevin Palmer,
who led all players with 23 points, scored five points in a 7-0 run
that iced the game. The Islanders would extend their lead to as
many as 20 in the final seven minutes.
Palmer led four
players in double digits for TAMUCC. Green followed his career
performance of 21 at Northwestern State with 17 points, while
Coombs netted 11 and Reynolds 10. Palmer led the Islanders in
rebounding with seven and added four assists with two steals.
A&M-Corpus Christi was out-rebounded for the first time in
league play losing the battle 38-36.
Dawkins was
joined in double-digit points by Hall with 13 and Tristan Worrell
with 11
The Islanders
return home to host UTSA on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Dugan
Wellness Center. There will be a dedication ceremony at 10:30 a.m.
for the new student recreation facility
