Box Score LAFAYETTE, La. – The second most successful season in Islanders men's basketball history came to an end Wednesday night as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi fell to Louisiana in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament by a score of 96-72 at the Cajundome.
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At 25-8 overall, the 2015-16 team trailed only the conference champion squad of 2006-07, which put up 26 wins. The Islanders were one step away from reaching the NCAA Tournament, falling in the finals of the Southland Conference Tournament, and advanced to postseason play for the third straight year.
"I'm really proud of these guys," Head Coach Willis Wilson said after the game. "It's been a pretty amazing year. I think we just ran out of gas. It's been a long time since we really had a home stretch and I think the travel's worn us down.
"I'm really proud of those guys," Wilson went on to say of the Islander seniors. "I'm really grateful and thankful for what they've meant to the program."
On Wednesday though, the Ragin' Cajuns (18-14) and Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Shawn Long were too much for the Islanders. The 6-foot-11 Long, who came in averaging 19.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game, went for 17 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.
The Islanders' big man, junior Rashawn Thomas, was impressive against Long. The Southland's Defensive Player of the Year finished the night with 17 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots in just 24 minutes before fouling out.
The Islanders were able to take the advantage early when sophomore Joe Kilgore scored seven straight points, highlighted by one-handed slam in traffic to make it 15-6 in favor of A&M-Corpus Christi just over seven minutes into the game.
The Ragin' Cajuns then used a 13-4 run to tie the game at 19-19 just over four minutes later and took their first lead since the opening minutes when Jay Wright's layup made it 24-22 in favor of Louisiana with 7:07 to play in the first half.
The two teams fought back and forth, but eight straight points – including back-to-back three-pointers – gave the Cajuns a double digit lead and allowed the home squad to take a 46-37 advantage into the break.
Louisiana scored the first seven points of the second half to extend its lead to 16 points at 53-37 and the Islanders were never able to recover. The Blue and Green got as close 12, but the Ragin' Cajuns cruised to the 96-72 victory.
Kasey Shepherd led five Ragin' Cajuns in double figures with 28 points on 6-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc. Bryce Washington added 17, Jay Wright and Steven Wronkoski chipped in with 11 each.
Kilgore and Ehab Amin put up 11 points for the Islanders and Brandon Pye added 10 in the defeat for the Islanders.
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