One Second Away, Islanders Fall in Title Game

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – 0.9 seconds. 0.9 seconds, that's all that separated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi from a CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament title.  A whistle went, a foul was called and Saint Peter's knocked down a free throw as the Islanders fell 62-61 in front of a sold out Dugan Wellness Center.
 
"The first place to start is Saint Peter's played a terrific basketball game," said head coach Willis Wilson. "It was a hostile environment and they did what they needed to do. I think this was one of those games where it just boiled down to whoever had the last possession. I thought our guys fought incredibly hard.
 
"The difference was that we had a couple mental breakdowns," continued Wilson. "It wasn't many but in a game like this it doesn't take very many. We had a few too many breakdowns that when you look at the final scoreboard, they come back to haunt you. I did have a chance to look at the last play on video. I'll probably reserve judgment before saying anything on that, but I thought it was a pretty good defensive effort on Jake and Rashawn's part but that's basketball."
 
Forced to settle for runner-up, the Islanders finish the season 24-12 and made the deepest postseason run in program and Southland Conference history. Rashawn Thomas led all scorers with 20 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in his final game in the Blue and Green.
 
Jake Kocher scored seven and grabbed five boards while Cole Martinez knocked down a late three and three free throws with three seconds to play to tie the game.
 
The crowd roared to its feet, only to be silenced by the whistle and Trevis Wyche's freebie.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi led for 30 minutes, but Saint Peter's used a 13-4 run to erase an eight-point Islanders advantage with under nine minutes to play in the game. The Peacocks gradually built a five-point lead of their own with 1:01 to play.
 
The Islanders turned to the sharpshooting Martinez to pull them even. The redshirt senior knocked down a three from the corner to trim the lead to two. After Saint Peter's split a pair of free throws, Martinez rose from behind the arc once more, this time drawing a foul. He hit all three from the stripe to knot the game with three seconds left.
 
 It ended up being one point short.

After the heartbreaking loss, Thomas and Amin were named to the All-Tournament team.
 
THE SEASON
 
The Islanders roller coaster season saw a turnaround from 9-9 overall and 2-5 in the Southland in January into a runner-up finish in the league and their second straight appearance in the conference championship game.
 
Corpus Christi ran off 9 straight victories, the second-longest winning streak in program history. The Islanders topped the 20-win plateau for a third straight season, a feat accomplished only once before, while also racking up the most wins in any three-year period.
 
WHAT TO REMEMBER
 
Rashawn Thomas broke six school records, including the all-time marks in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. In the CIT semifinals, Thomas became the first Islander to ever score 2,000 points in the Blue and Green.
 
In the finals, he scored 20 points to break the school's single-season scoring record and mark the sixth-highest single-season in Southland history with 765 points.
 
Fellow senior Cole Martinez produced the third-best, three-point shooting percentage in program history. Fighting through a knee-injury since December, Martinez connected on 46-percent of his shots beyond the arc.
 
Junior Ehab Amin set a school and conference record with 124 steals on the season. He will finish the year as the nation's leader in steals. The 124 are steals are the fifth most by any player in the country since 1992, matching Allen Iverson's sophomore season for fifth all-time.
 
FINAL RIDE
 
Three seniors played their final games as Islanders as Thomas, Kocher and Martinez all closed their careers on the Island.
 
"I've spent a lot of time with these guys over the last 4, 5, 6 years," said Wilson. "I can't even put into words what these guys mean to me. They are family, they will always be family. I have a great deal of love and affection for them. I am really excited for them that they had the opportunity to show on a national stage. They gave the fans a great basketball game, play well, and represent our school in the best way. I just can't say enough."
 
STAY SOCIAL
 
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