Box Score
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Rick Yeatts
Southland Conference |
KATY, Texas – John Jordan scored 22 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists and five steals in leading the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team to a 61-58 win over New Orleans on Thursday night in the Southland Conference Tournament quarterfinals. The Islanders improved to 19-12 on the season with the victory.
Rashawn Thomas added 13 points and seven rebounds, while Bryce Douvier chipped in nine points, six boards and two blocks. He also hit the Islanders' only three of the contest, as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi went just 1-for-14 from downtown.
Nate Frye scored 20 for New Orleans, but he was the only player in double figures for the Privateers. Travin Thibodeaux added eight points and 12 caroms in a losing effort for UNO.
The Islanders will now advance to the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament, where they will face No. 2 seed Sam Houston State on Friday night at 7:30. The Islanders and Bearkats split the regular season series, with each team winning the game on their own home court. Friday night's game will be televised live on ESPN3.
Early on, Frye was on his game offensively, scoring nine of UNO's first 13 points to boost the Privateers to a 13-6 lead. After an Islanders free throw, a triple for Kevin Brown pushed the lead all the way to 16-7. After the teams traded baskets to an 18-10 score, the Islanders locked in defensively, getting seven straight stops to put together a 9-0 run, with Ehab Amin scoring four points during the rally, to take a one-point lead.
At that juncture, the teams started trading points nearly every trip. For every Islanders basket there came a Privateers response, as A&M-Corpus Christi fought its way to a 27-24 lead. Christavious Gill then knocked down a three to set off a 5-0 run and put UNO up by two. But the Islanders came right back with three points in a row for a 30-29 edge. The Privateers rallied for a 34-31 lead heading into the final possession, but Jordan hit a beautiful turnaround jumper at the buzzer to make it 34-33 Privateers going into the break.
Out of the locker room, the Islanders tied it at the free-throw line, but then the Privateers got eight straight points, four from Gill, to take a 42-34 advantage. Jordan came through with a big jumper to snap the momentum, and that sparked the Islanders defense as well. Jelani Currie followed with a layup, and after two free throws from Douvier, a long jumper from Brandon Pye knotted the game up at 42-42.
After the teams traded baskets to a 44-44 score, the Islanders ran off five straight points to commence a 7-1 run, featuring blocks in transition by both Currie and Douvier, to make the lead 51-45. The Islanders pushed the lead to 55-49, but UNO came through with a rally. The Privateers scored four straight points at the line, but a Thomas layup put the Islanders back ahead 57-53. Undaunted, Frye came through once more, drilling a three while heavily covered, and the lead was down to just one, 57-56, with 1:53 to play.
The teams traded points at the foul line to a 59-58 score, and after an Islanders miss, the Privateers had an opportunity to take the lead. But Frye's layup rimmed out, and Currie snared the defensive board. UNO then fouled Jordan, and he went 1-for-2 at the line to make it 60-58. Needing a kill, Frye was called for a travel to give the ball back to the Islanders. Pye then went 1-for-2 at the line to push the lead to three, and Brown's wild three-point attempt was off target, as A&M-Corpus Christi sealed the victory.
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