Box Score CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team took 11 shots in the first eight minutes against Incarnate Word Saturday night. The Islanders made all 11, sprinting out to a 27-9 lead, and never looked back.
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The Islanders continued to extend their lead throughout the first half, finishing on an 11-3 run to take a 53-23 advantage into the break. The 53 points was the most for the Blue and Green this season, topping their 52 points scored in the second half of a win at Lamar on Jan. 11.
With the commanding lead intact, the Islanders cruised through the second half. A&M-Corpus Christi led by as many as 31 points, when a layup by Rashawn Thomas made it 78-47, and eventually won 90-69, avenging one of only three conference losses on the season.
"It was nice to see us play with energy," Head Coach Willis Wilson said. "I don't know if playing here in the Dugan had a lot to do with that, but I thought our guys were definitely ready to play for this game."
The Islanders (20-6, 11-3) had 14 assists to just two turnovers in the stellar first 20 minutes of play, which led to impressive shooting numbers. The second place team in the league shot 64.5 percent (20-of-31) from the floor and 87.5 percent from beyond the arc (7-of-8) in the first half.
"We made some adjustments," Wilson said. "There were a couple things we worked on in practice to help put ourselves in position, but at the end of the day guys have to make shots. We did a nice job playing inside out. As nice of a job as we've done all year long."
Once again, however, defense was key. The Islanders turned the Cardinals (13-11, 8-5) over 17 times and picked up 12 steals. A&M-Corpus Christi, which came into Saturday ranked second in the nation with 10.1 steals per game, held a 26-9 advantage over Incarnate Word in points off of turnovers.
The win earned the Islanders' their second straight 20-win season and the fifth ever in program history. The Blue and Green remain in second place in the Southland Conference at 11-3 in league play.
Senior Bryce Douvier led the Islanders with 19 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Thomas added 16 points and 10 boards for his league-leading ninth, and it was the first time all year that two Islanders recorded double-doubles in the same game.
Hameed Ali, who led the Islanders with 18 points on Monday at New Orleans, finished the night with 16 points, six assists and four steals. He came into Saturday's game third in the nation with 2.8 steals per game.
A number of Islanders gave significant contributions off the bench, most notably Viktor Juricek and Emmanuel Toney. The former scored five points, on 1-of-2 from beyond the arc, and grabbed three rebounds. The latter scored four points and picked up four steals in 24 minutes of action.
UP NEXT
The Islanders will remain at home and play their final regular season game in Corpus Christi Tuesday night. Abilene Christian comes to the Coastal Bend for a 7 p.m. tip at the American Bank Center.
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