Box Score CORPUS CHRISTI – Brandon Pye scored a career-high 21 points and Rashawn Thomas had his sixth double-double of the season, but a late goaltending call gave Lamar a 66-64 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday at the American Bank Center.
Anthony Holliday scored 25 points and had eight assists for the Cardinals, who won for the sixth time in seven games and improved to 9-7 on the season (3-1 Southland). Bryce Douvier added 13 points and seven rebounds, while John Jordan dished out nine assists for the Islanders (7-8, 2-1).
With the game tied at 64 in the closing minutes, the Cardinals called a time out with 24 seconds to play. The visitors set up a play for Holliday, who drove to his left toward the basket. He lofted a shot toward the rim, and Thomas appeared to block the shot on its way up, but the official ruled it goaltending and awarded two points to Lamar.
With the Cardinals leading by two and 5.9 seconds on the clock, the Islanders had one last shot, but Douvier's three-point attempt glanced off the rim and LU emerged victorious. It marked the only miss of the game from beyond the arc for the junior.
The Islanders handled heavy pressure from the Cardinals defense quite well, as the home squad dished out 17 assists to 11 turnovers in a losing effort. But Lamar held a slight edge in the boards, 34-31, and grabbed 10 offensive caroms.
The first half saw both teams a little disjointed on the offensive end. After Lamar scored the first bucket, the Islanders ran off the next seven points to garner a 7-2 lead. But the Cardinals rallied back, slowly cutting into the deficit and finally pulling ahead after Lemon Gregory's layup made it 15-14 at the 9:38 mark.
But the Islanders rallied at that point on the strength of their defense and Pye's shooting from distance. The Islanders forced three straight turnovers and got four stops in a row to string together a 10-0 run that made it 24-15. Pye drilled a pair of triples during the rally, and Jordan added a dunk on a fast break. After Lamar hit two free throws, Pye drilled another three to push the lead to a game-high 10.
But the Cardinals embarked on a 7-1 run, with Donovan Ross scoring four points and Holliday adding three. Another Pye trifecta snapped the run, but the Cardinals were able to score the final three points of the half to enter the locker room down just three, 32-29.
Out of the locker room, the two teams traded blows, but a Holliday three at the 15:19 mark tied the ballgame at 37-37. The Islanders pulled back ahead by six on a 6-0 run immediately after, but the Cardinals again used the three-ball, this time from Quan Jones, to cut the lead back to one, 47-46, at the 10:56 mark.
Again, though, the Islanders strung together a rally, netting five straight points to pull ahead 52-46. That's when Lamar mounted another run, this one 8-0, to pull ahead for the first time since the break. Zjori Bosha knocked down a triple and Holliday finished off a three-point play to cap off the rally, which put the Cardinals ahead 54-52.
Down the stretch, the teams continued to trade points, with Lamar hitting three of its last four threes to move ahead by four with 1:57 to play. Douvier came up with the answer, knocking down a three, and after Holliday went 1-for-2 at the line, the Islanders got the ball to Pye on the left elbow, and he drilled a long jumper with 35.2 seconds remaining to tie the game and set up the pivotal play at the conclusion.
The Islanders will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 17, as they hit the road for a matchup at Nicholls. Game time is slated for 3:30 p.m. at Stopher Gym. Yannis Koutroupis will have the call of the game on NewsRadio 1360 KKTX.
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