Defense Dominates, Francois Feasts in Victory

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A career night for Perry Francois helped Texas A&M-Corpus Christi cruise to a 71-55 victory over St. Mary's Friday night in the Dugan Wellness Center.
 
The sophomore Francois poured in 11 points on a perfect 3-for-3 from the field. The big man added another five points at the charity stripe to best his previous high of eight at Oklahoma State last season.
 
Joseph Kilgore also scored 11 and Sean Rhea added 10 to give the Blue and Green three in double digits. Rhea's 10 matches a career high for the rookie and Jamell Bradley also scored a career-high with six points.
 
"Perry has done a much better job of kind of playing within the system and allowing things to come to him," said head coach Willis Wilson. "He is doing a much more sound job of checking down on the offensive end and as a result, his rhythm has really improved. He has a couple nice moves he's been working on that he was able to show tonight."
 
The opening 20 minutes belonged to the defense as Corpus Christi (3-6) limited St. Mary's to just 6-of-24 from the floor and a 25 percent clip. The stingy defense allowed the Islanders to build a 31-21 advantage at the half.
 
The Islanders continued the strong defensive play in the second half, leading to a 17-2 run to build a 25-point lead. Four consecutive free throws from Kilgore sparked the run as the Islanders scored on eight consecutive trips down the court.
 
Emmanuel Toney scored five in the decisive run and Rhea added another four as the Islanders iced the game away in a four-minute span.
 
CAREER DAYS
 
>> Perry Francois' 11-point night marked the first time the sophomore has hit double digits.
>> Jamell Bradley finished with six points on 2-of-2 from the floor for a career high.
>> Sean Rhea's 10 points marked the fourth time he's matched a career best.
 
BALANCED SCORING
 
12 different Islanders scored a point in Friday's win. Eight of those finished with five or more points to produced the most balanced effort of the season.
 
Included in the dozen players scoring a point, Corpus Christi native Peyton Smith recorded his first career point as an Islander in the victory.

Corpus Christi's own Peyton Smith with his ?? career point #GoDers pic.twitter.com/VTlnyhpKtx

— Islanders MBB (@IslandersMBB) December 16, 2017

 
UP NEXT
 
Corpus Christi heads to Ole Miss for a Tuesday night clash against the SEC Rebels. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. in Oxford, Miss., and the game will be carried on the SEC Network.