Aggies Pull Away 86-69

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – A pair of runs to end either half carried Texas A&M over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Monday night as the Islanders dropped a second-straight game, 86-69.
 
In what was a tightly contested game the majority of the way, the final minutes of either half saw the Aggies pull away in Reed Arena.
 
"I thought A&M did a nice job when things got tight," said head coach Willis Wilson. "Every time we had a chance to put pressure on them, they kind of leaned on what they do. That's playing inside, playing through the big guys and playing in the paint. Obviously, Tyler Davis' effort speaks for itself and there's a lot of lessons that big kids around the country can learn from the way he plays."
 
That effort from Davis turned into a career-high 25 points. The Aggie big man shot 75-percent from the floor and added a 7-for-9 night at the free throw line. Davis led a trio of Aggies in double figures as Admon Gilder dropped 17 and Tonny Trocha-Morelos added 13.
 
Sharpshooter Cole Martinez led the Islanders with 14 points in the loss. The senior hit 5-of-8 shots from the floor including four from beyond the arc to pace a quartet of Islanders in double figures. Fellow senior Rashawn Thomas dropped in a dozen and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds before fouling out with 2:46 to play.
 
Guard Kareem South and Ehab Amin rounded out the four Islanders in double digits as South scored 11 and Amin added 10.
 
"From our standpoint," said Wilson," we've got to lean on what we do. I thought we kind of got away from that a little bit. You can't make excuses. We were a little tired and it showed up in a couple of areas. Number one, our ability to get up and guard the ball at the point of attack. We seemed to have a little more energy and fortitude in the second half, but we've got to be able to do that for 40 minutes.
 
"The second thing was our movement on the offensive side was really lacking," continued Wilson. "When we had good penetration opportunities we just didn't get the movement that we've been accustomed to all year long."
 
For the first 14 minutes, the Islanders and Aggies exchanged one blow for another. At 26-25, neither side had led by more than four points, but Texas A&M found its groove. The Aggies went on a 14-2 scoring run which included nearly four minutes without an Islander basket. At the break, the Islanders found themselves down a dozen in Reed Arena.
 
The run would prove to be the turning point as the Islanders never pulled within single digits again.
 
In the second half, the Blue and Green again found itself trading buckets with the Aggies. Homestanding A&M built a 17-point lead midway through the second, but the Islanders rebounded to claw within 11 with three minutes to play. A&M-Corpus Christi had a chance, but back-to-back threes erased any thoughts of a comeback.
 
 
HITTING THE GLASS
 
Despite a distinct size advantage for the Aggies, the Islanders finished the night with an edge on the board. Corpus Christi pulled down 39 caroms as a team while the Texas A&M grabbed 31.
 
Nine different Islanders recorded a board with eight snagging multiple.
 
SOUTH'S STRONG NIGHT
 
Redshirt freshman Kareem South came up one point shy of his career-high, scoring 11 against the Aggies. The guard was a big part of a reenergized second half, scoring eight of his 11 in the second 20 minutes.
 
South finished 4-for-8 from the field and pulled down three boards in a career-high 24 minutes.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
 
Following back-to-back road losses, the Islanders aim to snap the skid Friday night when the Blue and Green hosts St. Mary's (Tx.) in the American Bank Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be carried live on the Islanders Digital Network.