KATY, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team's performance on Friday night in the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament against Stephen F. Austin was summed up in one word – unstoppable. The Islanders (20-10) went wire-to-wire in dominant fashion to knock off the Lumberjacks (18-14), 77-69.
Avenging a loss in the 2016 Southland Conference championship game, the Islanders served their revenge with 27 points from
Rashawn Thomas, 16 from
Cole Martinez and 13 from
Kareem South.
"It was a long hard fought game, there's no other way to describe it," head coach
Willis Wilson said. "As a coach, I usually find a rhythm throughout the game but in tonight's game what kept me going was the players' confidence, their execution, and focus. It's been a long time coming for us but tonight I thought we finally hit our peak in terms of production and generating points from players who don't usually get the opportunity."
The Islanders sprinted out of the gates, scoring the first nine points of the night. Corpus Christi extended the lead to as many as 18 points, the Islanders were 51.9-percent from the field in the first half, before catching fire from behind in the arc in the second half, enter Martinez. The San Antonio native knocked down a trio of triples over the final 20 minutes.
Stephen F. Austin chopped away at the lead in the final 10 minutes. After the Lumberjacks rolled off an 8-0 run, Thomas fired back with a bucket end the streak, before draining a 3-pointer at the three-minute mark.
The Lumberjacks cut it all the way down to five with two minutes to play, but Martinez put the game on ice with a clutch corner 3-pointer.
Corpus Christi kept it clean, committing just eight turnovers, while dishing out 11 assists and recording nine steals.
Thomas entered back into the game with his fourth foul at the 7:44 mark of the second foul. The senior avoided his fifth and scored five points, including one of his career-high two 3-pointers, with two rebounds and two assists.
TIP-INS
>> Along with his 27 points, Thomas added nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
>>
Cole Martinez went 4-of-6 from the perimeter with four rebounds, two on the offensive end.
>>
Ehab Amin narrowly missed a double-double with eight points and nine boards.
>> Thomas,
Jake Kocher and
Kareem South dished out three assists.
BUCKETS FOR BIG BUCKS
>> Thomas dropped his 18th 20-point game of the season an almost had his 11th double-double of the campaign.
>> The Oklahoma City native connected on a pair of 3-pointers for a new career high.
ON TO THE 'SHIP
The Islanders reach the title game for the second consecutive year. Corpus Christi will go toe-to-toe with New Orleans at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
