New Orleans Nailbiter

NEW ORLEANS, La. - After falling to New Orleans by a single possession in the finals of the Southland Conference Championships last season, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi rolled into the 'Big Easy' looking for revenge on their SLC counterparts this Saturday. An underwhelming shooting performance from both sides in the first half led to a high-flying grudge match in the second, as Corpus Christi fell just short in the 61-55 loss.

Points were hard to come by for the Islanders in the early stages of the evening game, with the hosting Privateers jumping out to a 14-3 lead in the opening 10 minutes. The Blue and Green would miss 10 of their first 11 shots from the field before righting the ship and establishing their own 13-4 run thanks to six points from starting forward Sean Rhea and a pair of buckets from freshman Tre Gray off the bench. 

UNO would earn a 22-16 advantage before the start of the break, as the two sides prepared for what would be a full tilt title fight in the second.

Sean Rhea would further improve upon his first half play with seven points and six rebounds to finish with 13-10, while starting center Elijah Schmidt finished his night with nine and eight. The tail of the second half would be all about Kareem South however, as the redshirt-sophomore hit five of his eight shots from the floor, including three from beyond the three-point mark. 

South's 15 points would keep the Islanders within striking range of the the UNO Privateers throughout a second half that provided six lead changes and a pair of ties. New Orleans took the lead for good in the last six-plus minutes, as the Privateers' six-for-six shooting from the charity stripe during that span would be enough to hold off the surging Islanders and earn 61-55 victory. 

• Sean Rhea's 10 rebounds are a career-high for the foward, as the freshman earned the first double-double of his college career
• In just his second game since coming back from injury Deion Rhea scored a season-best six points against UNO
• Tre Gray's 23 minutes off the bench are a career-high for the freshman, as the guard finished with eight points
• The Islanders combined for eight blocks against UNO this Saturday. That's a season-high for the team and the most they've registered since recording eight at Lamar in January of last season

UP NEXT
 
The Islanders get set to faceoff with Southland rival Nicholls State this coming Tuesday in Thibodaux.

Fans of the Blue and Green can follow their team on the road via radio feed provided by the Islander Digital Network, powered by AEP Texas.