Box Score 
THIBODAUX, La. – Brandon Pye scored seven points in the final 1:10 of the ballgame, as the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team held on for a 69-66 victory over Nicholls on Saturday at Stopher Gym. John Jordan scored 18 and Pye added 16 for the Islanders, who improved to 8-8 overall and 3-1 in Southland play with the win.
Rashawn Thomas added 13 points in just 18 minutes of action as he was limited by foul trouble throughout the game. Each team was whistled for 28 fouls in a physical contest. The Colonels were led by Sam McBeath, who scored 18 points and snared 10 rebounds. Nicholls (4-10, 1-3) was incredibly tough on the boards, outrebounding the Islanders 37-23.
The game saw a dramatic ending. Pye's three with 1:10 to go gave the Islanders a 64-59 lead, and an Emmanuel Toney block and a defensive rebound resulted in two shots at the line for Pye. He knocked both down, and the Islanders looked poised to emerge victorious, up 66-59 with 32 seconds to play. But Amin Torres came right down the court and drilled a three to make it a four-point game. The Colonels then got a turnover, but couldn't convert a pair of free throws.
After Jelani Currie went 1-of-2 at the other end to push the lead to five, Nicholls countered with a 1-for-2 performance from Sam McBeath on the offensive side to make it 67-63 with 20 seconds to go. The Colonels forced an Islanders turnover with 16.3 on the clock, and then Torres converted a three-point play with 12.1 seconds remaining to cut it back to a single point, 67-66.
Pye converted the ensuing free throws to put it back to 69-66, and then the Islanders put forth a strong defensive possession, forcing a wild shot by Torres that was off the mark, and Toney grasped the rebound to end the game.
The first half was rather disjointed, with frequent fouls disrupting the rhythm of the game. Thomas was whistled for an inadvertent elbow, a personal foul and a technical foul in the first 5:58 of the game, sending him to the bench for the rest of the half with three fouls as the Islanders fell behind 9-4.
But Jordan rallied the team, nailing a three and adding a jumper in rapid succession to tie the game 9-9. After a Luka Kamber three, Cole Martinez got a steal and drew a foul to knock down a pair of free throws and knot the game at 11. Shortly after, another Islanders steal led to a Martinez three that made it 14-11 and capped off a 10-2 run.
Undaunted, the Colonels rallied and another Kamber three put the lead back in Nicholls' hands, 19-17, with 7:04 left in the half. A&M-Corpus Christi countered with a 6-0 run, the final points coming on a steal and dunk by Jordan that put the lead at 23-19. The Islanders were able to push the lead to 27-22 on a pair of Viktor Juricek free throws at the 4:44 mark.
But the Colonels delivered another run, this one 9-1, to take a 31-28 lead with one minute to play. Jordan scored four of the final six points of the half, cutting the lead to one on a tough floater in the lane, that rolled around the rim and in at the buzzer to make it 33-32 in favor of the Colonels.
Out of the break, the two teams went back-and-forth, with Nicholls holding a 42-40 lead at the 15:37 mark. The Islanders then embarked on a 10-2 run, engineered by Thomas and Pye, then capped off with a brilliant offensive rebound and layup for Ehab Amin to make it 52-44 with 10:55 remaining. The Islanders slowly added to their lead, pushing it to 56-47, a game-high nine, on two Currie free throws at the 8:13 mark.
But McBeath scored six straight points, four at the free-throw line, to pull the Colonels back within three, 56-53. The Islanders pushed it back to six on Thomas' layup with 4:46 to play, but he fouled out on the next possession and McBeath scored four straight points to cut it to just two. That set up Pye's three-pointer with 1:10 to play.
The Islanders will return to the hardwood on Tuesday, Nov. 20, with a battle against Northwestern State at 7 p.m. on Stripes Court at the American Bank Center. The game will be Military Appreciation Night, with members of the military as well as their friends and family gaining admission for just $5. Call 361-825-BALL (2255) for more information or to purchase your tickets today.
Yannis Koutroupis will have the call of the game live on NewsRadio 1360 KKTX beginning at 6:45 with the pregame show. For all the latest on Islanders Basketball, be sure to follow the team on Twitter and Instagram (@IslandersMBB) and like the team on Facebook (IslandersMBB).
