Box Score CONWAY, Ark. – John Jordan scored 23 points and added six assists, as the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball held off a hard-charging Central Arkansas squad, 77-70, in the conference opener for the Islanders. A&M-Corpus Christi's defense created 22 UCA turnovers and turned it into 26 points in the victory.
Brandon Pye added 13 points for A&M-Corpus Christi (6-7 overall, 1-0 Southland) in his first game since suffering an injury prior to the Cal State Northridge game. Rashawn Thomas had 11 points and narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with nine rebounds. Emmanuel Toney had a strong all-around game with four assists and a career-high five steals.
Thatch Unruh and Jake Zuilhof each scored 17 points to lead the way for UCA (0-13, 0-2), while Mike Martin added 13 and Jordan Howard posted 12. Zuilhof added 12 boards for a double-double, as the Bears won the battle of the boards, 40-34.
Early on, the two teams traded points, with the Islanders holding a 9-8 lead at the 14:32 mark. At that point, the Islanders defense locked down, and engineered an 7-0 run that featured four steals – the final one by Toney that set up a thunderous high-flying dunk from Jordan to make it 16-8.
The Bears got a three from Martin to snap the rally, but A&M-Corpus Christi continued to use a high-pressure defense that resulted in a 12-3 run, culminating in a Joe Kilgore layup that made it 28-14 at the 7:27 mark. Slowly, the Islanders built on the lead, getting it to a game-high 18 on a Jelani Currie three with 32 seconds remaining in the half, before an Albert Christensson layup sent the game to the break with the Islanders leading 43-27.
The story of the first stanza was distribution, as 11 different players combined to score the 43 points, with nine of them registering field goals. The Islanders totaled 10 steals and converted those into 15 UCA points. On the flip side, A&M-Corpus Christi turned the ball over just four times, and the Bears were unable to score off those.
UCA came out of the break with four straight points, but A&M-CC was able to regroup and push the lead back to 15 on a Currie layup that made it 49-34. But the Bears came right back with a 7-0 run, capped off by a Tyler Simmons three, to put the lead back to single digits for the first time since the early going, 49-41. Slowly, the Islanders were able to recover and got the advantage back to 15, 65-50, with 4:34 left.
But UCA had a big punch left in them. Martin converted a basket and was fouled, then the Bears got the rebound and Unruh drained a three to make it a 10-point game. After a stop, Howard came up with a three from the left wing and was fouled. He finished the four-point play to cut the lead to just six, 65-59, with 3:46 to play.
The Islanders responded with four straight points to get the lead back to 10, but the Bears kept charging, cutting the deficit to six on multiple occasions in the closing minutes. Still, A&M-Corpus Christi was able to hold off the charge and close the game at the free-throw line.
The Islanders will return to the Coastal Bend next weekend, as they face McNeese State on Saturday, Jan. 10, at the Dugan Wellness Center. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on campus at the Island University. For tickets, please call 361-825-BALL (2255). Yannis Koutroupis will have the call on NewsRadio 1360 KKTX.
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