Senior's Return Sparks 20-0 Run, Victory Over UCA

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Senior leaders often have a knack for sparking their squad to life in the toughest moments. Count Texas A&M-Corpus Christi redshirt senior Cole Martinez among those as the veteran returned from a four-game game absence to ignite a 20-0 first half run which propelled the Islanders to an 88-81 victory over Central Arkansas Saturday night in the American Bank Center.
 
Still visibly hobbled, Martinez entered the game with the Islanders trailing 26-14 in the first half. The sharpshooter knocked down a pair of threes in quick succession, sending the bench and the crowd to their feet and the Islanders to a staggering 20-0 run.
 
"First and foremost, I thought it was a heck of a college basketball game," said head coach Willis Wilson. "It had all the elements of a good game. The one thing we were able to do at the end of the game that we didn't do at the half was close out possessions.
 
"Our defense was pretty good tonight, but we gave up some key offensive rebounds," continued Wilson. "Then all of a sudden, Joe Kilgore came to life. Ehab came to life. When Rashawn came back it, he was able to come to life. Those guys were really able to get up on the glass and get us some rebounds. I thought that was obviously the difference for us."
 
The whopping run helped the Blue and Green claim a 37-36 advantage at the break behind 14 points from Rashawn Thomas.
 
A seesawing second half followed as neither side led by more than eight. Thomas added 13 second half points to bring his total to a game high 27. Ehab Amin added 21 and recorded his first career double-double with a career-high 10 rebounds.
 
The second half saw eight ties and another eight lead changes. Naturally, it was Martinez, with his third triple of the night, who put the Islanders ahead to stay. Trailing by 1 with 7:41 to play, Martinez rose from the corner and drilled the three. UCA would pull even twice more, but could never regain an advantage.

HE'S BAAAAACCCCKKKK! ?? #GoDers pic.twitter.com/t10FrKIC6U

— Islanders MBB (@IslandersMBB) January 15, 2017

 
SHARING THE ROCK
 
The Islanders matched a season-high with 19 assists on the night. Joe Kilgore paced the offense with a career-high matching six helpers. Redshirt freshman Kareem South also matched a career-high with six assists.
 
The Blue and Green's 19 assists trumped just nine turnovers on the night, a season-best effort in the assists-to-turnover ratio.
 
• Four Islanders scored in double figures with Thomas' 27 leading the way.
• Jake Kocher dropped in 13 on 5-of-8 shooting. He added three steals on the night.
• South scored 11 to join the double-figure Islanders.
 
DEFENSIVE LOCK DOWN
 
The Islanders faced one of the best shooters in the nation Saturday night in UCA's Jordan Howard. The Bear guard entered 18th in the nation in three-point percentage and threes per game.
 
He hit just 1-of-5 from beyond the arc. A big part of that was redshirt freshman Kyle Brown.
 
Brown played 15 scoreless minutes, but that was of little concern.
 
"I would be remiss if I didn't talk about Kyle Brown," said Wilson. "I thought we had good effort from a lot of people, but for a guy who hasn't logged a ton of minutes this year, to be able come in and ignite our defense was big for us. To do it consistently throughout the game, being subbed in and out and in late game situations was big."
 
ATONEMENT ON THE MIND
 
The Islanders return to action as they host Stephen F. Austin Thursday night in the American Bank Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be carried on Root Sports as the Blue and Green aim to avenge a Wednesday night loss to the 'Jacks.