Box Score CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team came back from 11 points down to defeat visiting Abilene Christian 65-59 Tuesday night at the American Bank Center.
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"I was excited after that game," Head Coach Willis Wilson said. "That was a win against a good team. They've done such a good job of bringing that program along. I was really proud of our guys because we had to fight back against a good basketball team."
The Islanders (21-6, 12-3) trailed 33-26 at halftime, and were down 42-31 with 15:42 to play in the game, when junior Rashawn Thomas dunked on a defender, drew the foul and hit the ensuing free throw to ignite a 16-4 run by the Blue and Green.
With 11:23 to play, the Islanders had taken a 47-46 lead on a layup by senior Hameed Ali. The point guard was integral during the stretch, scoring eight of the Islanders' 16 points and assisting on the Thomas slam.
The Wildcats (12-16, 7-8) continued to fight to stay in the game. However, a 7-0 spurt by the Islanders on a layup by Jelani Currie, two free throws from Thomas and a three-pointer by Brandon Pye put A&M-Corpus Christi up by nine points with under two minutes to play and ultimately ended the game.
"In the second half our guys showed a lot of grit," Wilson said. "The thing that stood out to me was that we did it one possession at a time. Tonight we showed a lot of resolve that we were going to grind it out one play at a time. That was really nice to see."
Thomas led the Islanders with 22 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in the victory, marking the 10th time this season he has gone for 20 or more points.
Ali finished the night with the aforementioned eight points, adding four assists and a game high five steals. With his third pick of the night, Ali passed John Jordan to become the all-time leader in program history for career steals. He now has 185 in his four years with the Islanders.
"All of Hameed's career he's never really had the chance to have the light shined on him," Wilson said. "He's done such a nice job. He contributes in so many ways. The two things I value most about him are his competitive spirit and that he's a guy who comes out there with a lot of confidence every day."
A trio of Islanders joined Thomas in double figures Tuesday night, including seniors Jelani Currie and Brandon Pye (Ehab Amin the other; 11 points). Currie scored 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grabbed four rebounds in the victory.
Pye finished with 10 points on 2-of-5 from beyond the arc. With his two threes, Pye tied the Islanders program record with 169 made in his career. His next make from downtown would make him the all-time leader, passing Travis Bailey.
The Islanders, who came into the game as the nation's top team in steals per game with 10.2 per outing, turned Abilene over 17 times and recorded 10 steals in the victory.
UP NEXT
The Islanders will now head on the road for the rest of the regular season. A&M-Corpus Christi heads to Sam Houston State Saturday. The Islanders and the Bearkats will tip-off at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.
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