Amin Marauds McNeese

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – In its ninth consecutive victory, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi never trailed as the Islanders rode a career day from Ehab Amin to an 81-70 win over McNeese Saturday afternoon on Stripes Court at the American Bank Center.
 
 Amin scored the game's opening points on a pair of free throws. 39 minutes and 38 seconds later, he capped a career day at the stripe with his 30th and 31st points. The junior's 31 points set a new career high as he added a career-best 15 rebounds for good measure.
 
As if that was not enough, Amin also broke the school record for single-season steals Saturday. The guard pickpocketed McNeese four times to reach 92 swipes on the year. The national leader in that category, Amin eclipsed former teammate Hammed Ali's 88 steals a season ago.
 
Along with Amin, senior Rashawn Thomas powered the Islanders attack with 24 points despite picking up his fourth foul with nearly 16 minutes to play in the game. Thomas was just 5-of-13 from the field, but went a perfect 14-for-14 at the free throw line. The errorless mark at the stripe marks the most free throws by an Islander without a miss.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Amin scored the opening points and the Islanders (18-9, 11-5) never looked back. A late first-half run from McNeese (8-20, 4-12) pulled the Cowboys within three, but Corpus Christi went on an 8-0 run keyed by four points and a steal from Amin to push the lead to nine at the break.
 
The Islanders seemed poised to cruise in the second half before Thomas garnered his fourth personal foul with 15:33 on the clock. With Thomas forced to the bench, McNeese closed within four twice, but the Blue and Green stymied any thoughts of an upset with a 15-4 run upon Thomas' return to salt away the victory.
 
Kaleb Ledoux led McNeese with a 20-point effort while Jarren Greenwood added a dozen for the Cowboys.
 
IMPACT ISLANDERS
 
Along with Amin's and Thomas' big performances, redshirt freshman Kareem South found double-digits with 13 points. It's the third consecutive game in double digits for South and his sixth in the last seven games.
 
Jake Kocher scored seven for the Islanders and made his presence known on the defensive end with four steals to match Amin.

HBU WEDNESDAY

The Islanders return to action in the penultimate regular season contest on Wednesday night at Houston Baptist.