Smith's Heroics Down Demons

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – With flashbacks to the season opener, freshman Myles Smith took the inbounds coast-to-coast to sink his second game-winner in the waning seconds as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi earned a 67-65 victory over Northwestern State on Wednesday night on Corpus Christi Athletic Club Court at the American Bank Center.
 
Smith scored seven points for the Islanders (4-9, 1-2 SLC), none bigger than the pull up jumper from the wing to win the game in the final second. Fittingly, a freshman provided the victory in a night largely powered by the young guns, led by Sean Rhea.
 
The forward Rhea matched a pair of career highs in the win, tallying 17 points and eight rebounds against the Demons (3-11, 0-3 SLC). The 17-point performance marked the third consecutive night with a new high water mark.
 
Tre Gray added 10 points, bolstered by a 5-of-6 performance at the charity stripe, to finish as the only other Islander in double figures.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Northwestern State raced out to a quick start, building a 17-8 lead at the 12:29 mark of the first half. Turnovers were the key as the Blue and Green committed 10 in the first half to negate a 50 percent shooting effort and a plus-10 margin in rebounding. At the break, it was all-square at 30.
 
The second half mirrored the opening 20 with the Islanders struggling out of the locker room and failing to score for the first 4:20 of the half. Meanwhile, Northwestern State rebuilt an eight point lead at the under 16.
 
Slowly, but surely, the Islanders chipped away, finally bring the game level with a Gray freebie with 6:39 to play. Gray would knock down the back end as well to give the Islanders their first lead of the half before a seesaw affair ensued the final five minutes.
 
Joseph Kilgore's jumper with 3:26 to play gave the Islanders a five-point edge, the largest of the night for Corpus Christi, but Northwestern State would tie with eight seconds to play on a pair of free throws.
 
From there, it was Smith, 94 feet and nothing but net.

MYLES. GETS. BUCKETS.

?? it #GoDers #WeTheWave pic.twitter.com/eGnzC1LT85

— Islanders MBB (@IslandersMBB) January 4, 2018

 
BENCH BOOST
 
Corpus Christi's bench provided the difference as four Islanders jumped into the game to add 25 points to the victory. The Islanders held a 14-point edge on the bench with Gray, Smith, Elijah Schmidt and York Benjamin responsible for the 25 points.
 
The bench shot a combined 8-of-14 for a 57 percent clip in the victory.
 
HITTING THE GLASS
 
The Islanders racked up a plus-7 margin on the boards as nine players grabbed a rebound Wednesday night.
 
>> Rhea led the effort by matching his career high of eight.
>> Perry Francois recorded five rebounds and Kilgore added four.
>> Three additional Islanders grabbed a trio of boards.

UP NEXT
 
The Islanders return to Corpus Christi Athletic Club Court at the American Bank Center next Wednesday night to host Sam Houston State in a 7 p.m. tip. The game will be carried live on the Islanders Digital Network powered by AEP Texas and locally on KDF 47.