CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – In his first appearance as an Islander, junior
Rasheed Browne poured in a game-high 20 points to lead the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program to a 64-53 victory over Texas A&M-International on Wednesday at the American Bank Center.
Bowne was nearly perfect from the floor as he shot 6-of-7 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free throw line. He also grabbed four rebounds for the Islanders (1-0) to help shake off the Dustdevils (0-1).
Sophomore
Jalen White also shined for A&M-Corpus Christi. He submitted a double-double with career-highs of 14 points and 14 rebounds. Senior
Perry Francois aided the attack with 12 points and seven rebounds.
The Dustdevils were paced by Jamyus Jones who ended with 16 points. Darrell Jones scored 13 points off the bench. The A&M-Corpus Christi defense kept TAMIU in check for most of the night, limiting it to a .276 mark from the floor and .250 from long range.
The game was back-and-forth early, as a lay-up by junior
Cyrie Coates Jr. had the Islanders up 13-12 at the 12:09 mark. Back-to-back jumpers by Francois extended it to 21-14 with 8:20 remaining.
The Islanders ended the half on a 6-0 run. It included a lay-up by Brown and an alley-oop dunk by Francois to take a 33-22 edge into the intermission.
A lay-up by White early in the second pushed the lead up to 37-24.
Though, the Dustdevils hung around for most of the way. They got the deficit down to 41-37 with 12:23 to go, but the Islanders answered with a lay-up by Browne and a three from senior
Nolan Bertain to quickly go back up 46-37 with 11:14 left.
TAMIU made one last comeback attempt with about six minutes remaining when it trimmed the lead down to 49-45, but never got any closer. A three from Browne and a jumper by White helped the Islanders pull away late with a 60-48 advantage with 2:28 remaining.
The Islanders will remain at home Saturday when they host Texas State at 2 p.m. at the American Bank Center. A&M-Corpus Christi is 10-8 all-time against the Bobcats, including a 5-4 mark at home.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 6-0 all-time against the Dustdevils. It was the first meeting between the two programs since Nov. 25, 2009.
- The Islanders are now 19-3 all-time in season openers and also 19-3 in home openers.
- A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 199-93 all-time at home and 133-66 in the American Bank Center. They are on a four-game home winning streak, which carried over from last season.
- The program carries over a three-game home winning streak from last season.
- Browne made his first appearance in an A&M-Corpus Christi uniform after transferring from the Community College of Beaver County where he averaged 13.9 points and 9.6 assists.
- White notched his first career double-double. It was also his first career double-digit scoring game and first double-figure rebounding game. His previous career-highs were nine points and five rebounds against Stony Brook on Nov. 15, 2019.
- Francois etched his sixth career double-figure scoring game. He matched his career-high of 12 points set against McNeese State on Dec. 19, 2017. Francois was one rebound shy of a career-high.
- The Islanders outscored the Dustdevils 32-14 in points in the paint.
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