Box Score 
CORPUS CHRISTI – John Jordan posted his fourth career double-double, scoring 22 points and dishing out 11 assists to lead four players in double figures as the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team downed Northwestern State 88-76 on Tuesday at the American Bank Center.
The Islanders improved to 9-8 overall and 4-1 in Southland play, while Northwestern State is now 8-9 and 3-3 in conference action.
Rashawn Thomas also posted a double-double, his seventh of the season, with 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Islanders. Brandon Pye scored 17 points and went 5-for-8 from downtown, while Bryce Douvier scored 14 points and snared seven boards. Jordan's 11 assists matched a career high for the senior.
Zeek Woodley had a strong offensive performance, leading all scorers with 24 points. Jalan West added 15 and Tra'von Joseph poured in 13. The Islanders won the battle of the boards, 36-21, on the strength of 17 offensive rebounds.
A&M-Corpus Christi came out red-hot from the field against the Demons' 3-2 zone and was aggressive from beyond the 3-point line, hitting four of its first five to take a 12-7 lead on Pye's triple at the 16:35 mark. Both teams continued their aggression on the offensive end, trading baskets to a 15-13 Islanders lead at the 14:30 mark.
The Islanders then embarked on a 12-2 run, getting three more threes from Pye to push the lead to 27-15. After the Islanders pushed it to 29-17, the Demons scored six straight points to cut it to a six-point deficit following a West free throw at the 8:53 mark. The two teams went back-and-forth at that point, with two West free throws making it 40-33 with 3:41 left.
But the Islanders had one more push in them before the break. After expanding the lead to nine at 44-35, the Islanders went on a 6-1 run to get the game to 50-36 in the final minute. The Demons got a jumper from Joseph with 14 seconds left, but Jordan added an exclamation point, cutting through the defense all the way to the rim, finishing a reverse layup to send it to the break with the Islanders leading 52-38.
A&M-Corpus Christi continued its strong offensive performance after the break, with a Pye jumper stretching the lead to 16. The lead then fluctuated between 14 and 17 over the next several minutes, with a Thomas layup pushing the Islanders advantage to 62-46 at the 16:28 mark.
The Demons responded with five straight points to cut the lead back to 11, but the Islanders scored the next seven, two on a steal-and-layup by Ehab Amin and the final blow a triple from Pye that pushed the lead to a game-high 18. The Islanders eventually pushed it to a 19-point lead, 73-54, with 11:20 to play.
Northwestern State then went into a press and the Islanders hit a cold spell offensively, scoring just one point over the next 4:30. A&M-Corpus Christi was able to slow the Demons offense significantly over the same stretch, though, limiting the high-scoring squad to 11 points and stemming the tide to maintain a nine-point lead with 6:57 to play.
The teams traded points over the next several possessions, with NSU cutting it to as little as eight on two occasions, including an 80-72 score with 2:28 left. The Islanders then got two free throws from Jordan, and a block by Thomas on the ensuing possession led to a Thomas layup that put the lead at 12. Marvin Frazier got one point back at the line, then Thomas tipped in his own miss to stretch the lead to 13, and the Islanders capped it off in style. West was stripped by Emmanuel Toney, sending Jordan forward for a breakaway dunk to push the lead to 15 and effectively ice the game. Northwestern State closed the game by hitting three free throws before the final buzzer.
The Islanders will now play five of their next six games on the road, beginning with a Saturday tilt against New Orleans at Lakefront Arena on Jan. 24 at 6:15 p.m. Yannis Koutroupis will have the call of the game on NewsRadio 1360 KKTX. 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).
