Clipping the Cardinals

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BEAUMONT, Texas – It took every second of 45 minutes, but Texas A&M-Corpus Christi finally landed the road win it so badly needed in 69-66 overtime fashion over Lamar Wednesday night at the Montagne Center.
 
Redshirt senior Jake Kocher matched a career-high 19 points and hit a career-best five three-pointers to power the thrilling victory. Along with Kocher's outburst, Ehab Amin and Rashawn Thomas notched double-doubles for the Islanders (10-9, 3-5) while Joseph Kilgore scored 14 as four found double figures.
 
Thomas, who returned after a two-game absence, broke the school's all-time scoring record with a 22-point and 12-rebound performance.
 
"There were moments where it felt like this wan not going to come," said head coach Willis Wilson of the road victory. "Not just tonight, but over the past few days. I can't be prouder of our guys for staying the course and I thought we did a great job with our execution.
 
"We missed a lot of layups tonight, but Lamar missed some open shots as well," continued Wilson. "I just think that's part of basketball. When it boiled down to it, we were able to get it done on the defensive end and we were able to get it done on the defensive end with a complete team effort."
 
Trailing by three with 2:50 to play, the Blue and Green turned to the big man down the stretch as Thomas hit a pair of free throws and a jumper to give the Islanders a one-point advantage. Colton Weisbrod split a pair at the line for Lamar to tie the game and Cole Martinez's last-second shot missed as the game headed to overtime.
 
In overtime, Kocher splashed his fifth three-ball of the night to flip a two-point deficit into a lead. He came back the next trip down the court and sliced through the lane to extend the lead to three, providing all the cushion the Islanders would need.
 
A NEW KING
 

With his 10th point of the game, Rashawn Thomas is the ???? new all-time leading scorer #GoDers pic.twitter.com/c7T0zcNQ8e

— Islanders MBB (@IslandersMBB) January 26, 2017

Rashawn Thomas' 22-point effort pushed him past John Jordan for the all-time scoring mark in Islanders' history. Thomas now has 1,589 points to his name.
 
"I couldn't be happier for Rashawn," said Wilson. "It's been an up-and-down year, it's been a hard year for everybody with injuries and all the other things going on, but that's college basketball. You learn life lessons from it and I think Rashawn really was hungry to get back on the court tonight and make a contribution. It was really nice to see him attain a goal like that in a win, especially a win on the road."
 
KLUTCH KOCHER
 
Sixth-year senior Jake Kocher recorded a career-best 19 points and five triples. He added four rebounds and a trio of steals.
 
"Jake has had so many shots from outside rattle in and out," said Wilson. "Everyone knows he's a good shooter and everyone believes in him. We've just been telling the guys to stay the course, we've got guys that can shoot the basketball. Jake is one of those and he was timely. We really needed him to step up tonight and he did in a big way. He really got our attitude and our energy going in the right direction and he kept it there for a long, long time tonight."
 
THE SAVE
 
Leading by just a single point with 15 seconds to play in overtime, Lamar's Nick Garth rose for the game-tying shot from the corner. A surprising hero was there as 6-foot-1 freshman Colin Hale leapt for his first career rejection to seal the victory.
 
"The block by Colin Hale – he's probably the one guy you'd least expect to make that play, especially in that moment," said Wilson. "He's been gutty. He's done everything we've asked him to do. He's working on his strength, he's working on his handles, he's working on his game. He's been very loyal and dedicated to this program and the opportunity came for him to step up tonight and he did in a big way with that play."
 
HOME ON SATURDAY
 
The Islanders return to Corpus Christi to host Abilene Christian Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will be carried on ESPN3 as the Southland Game of the Week.