Box Score ELON, N.C. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team put five players in double figures to top host Elon 85-81 in the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis Mainland Tournament Friday at Alumni Gymnasium.
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"I was very impressed with the field overall for this tournament," Head Coach Willis Wilson said after the game. "Every game was incredibly competitive, back-and-forth, and I thought we saw a lot of good basketball.
"I was really pleased for our guys to scrap and grind it out," Wilson continued about Friday's contest. "We jumped out early and looked like we were going to be able to hang onto that lead in the second half, but to no surprise Elon made a nice little run. We had a couple guys step up big for us."
The Islanders took a 6-4 lead on a Rashawn Thomas layup 2:37 into the game and didn't trail again in the first half. Working through foul trouble once again, A&M-Corpus Christi came away with a 42-35 lead at the break.
Everything was working on offense for the Islanders as they shot 61 percent from the floor and 38 percent from three-point range over the first 20 minutes. Defensively, the Blue and Green held Elon to just 34 percent from the field and 3-of-17 (18%) from long distance, but the Phoenix stayed in it at the line.
Elon shot 12-of-16 from the charity stripe in the first half, while the Islanders shot just one free throw. That free throw was on a conventional three-point play by Thomas, who led the Islanders in the first frame with 11 points and five rebounds.
The Islanders extended their lead to 12 points, at 49-37 early in the second half, but the Phoenix slowly got back into the game with a 19-9 run over the course of the next six minutes to make it just a 58-56 A&M-Corpus Christi advantage.
The Phoenix took their first lead since the opening minutes when Dmitri Thompson made it 70-69 with 6:18 to play in the game. As they led 74-72, the Islanders scored nine straight points to regain the advantage at 81-74 with 1:58 to play. Thomas scored the last five points and took a charge during the stretch.
Elon still didn't go away, bringing the A&M-Corpus Christi lead back down to just two points with 24 seconds left, but a defensive stop and a breakaway layup by Brandon Pye sealed the deal for the Islanders, 85-81.
OFFENSIVE BALANCE LEADS THE WAY
• Thomas and Jelani Currie led the Islanders with 18 points each, but in all five players scored in double figures to help lead the way.
• Joe Kilgore added 16 points, Hameed Ali added 11, and Pye chipped in with 10 for the game.
• It marked the first time this season that the Islanders put five players in double figures and the first since March 5 of last season.
"What's going to make us hard to match with teams in our league is the fact that we have so many guys that we can lean on. Tonight was one of those nights that we got contributions from five guys. We were able to spread the ball around and it was hard to really double anybody."
- Willis Wilson
DEFENSE CONTINUES TO PAVE THE WAY
For the third straight game, the Islanders held their opponent to less than 40 percent shooting from the field. The Phoenix finished the night at 38.7 percent from the floor and 30.3 percent from three-point range.
It was Elon's ability to get second chances due to offensive rebounds that kept the Phoenix in the game. They recorded 19 offensive boards in the contest.
INSIDE THE ISLANDERS
• Thomas led the Islanders with eight rebounds and shot an impressive 8-of-11 from the floor.
• Ali dished out a game high five assists, recording at least four assists for the fifth time in six games this season.
• After a slow first half, the Islanders were able to get to the free throw line in the second. The Blue and Green finished the night 16-of-20 from the stripe.
BACK HOME
The Islanders will return home to play a pair of games at the American Bank Center. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi hosts Austin Peay on Dec. 2 and then does battle with Texas State on Dec. 5.
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