Career Outings Propel Islanders to 99-72 Win over Our Lady of the Lake

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program turned in a big offensive performance in a 99-72 victory over Our Lady of the Lake on Saturday at the Dugan Wellness Center.
 
It was the 200th home win in school history. The program improved to 200-95 all-time at home.
 
Senior Myles Smith tied a school record with 12 assists. He was one point away from a double-double with nine points.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi (2-6) garnered four double-figure scorers. Sophomore Jalen White registered a double-double with a career-high 24 points and 10 rebounds, and senior Perry Francois neared a double-double with 22 points and nine rebounds.
 
Aiding the attack was senior Nolan Bertain with 14 points and fellow senior Peyton Smith with a season-high 11 points.
 
For the game, the Islanders shot .607 (34-56) from the field and .474 (9-19) from beyond-the-arc. They limited the Saints (1-2) to a .381 (24-63) mark and .207 (9-29) from long-range.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi carried a 43-29 rebounding advantage.
 
OLLU was coming off a 61-58 win over Texas State. The team was led by Ethan White who scored their first eight points and ended with 13.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi led 9-8 early when it took full control with a 17-0 run. It started with a three-pointer by Bertain and was capped by a lay-up by Francois to make it a 26-8 game at the 10:35 mark.
 
Still up 38-19, Bertain nailed another three to spark a 7-0 run, as two free throws from junior Cyrie Coates Jr. upped the lead to 45-19 at the 3:53 mark. The Islanders led 50-28 at the intermission.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi scored the first six points of the second half, including a pair of lay-ins by Francois, which changed the score to 56-28 with 18:55 remaining. Another bucket by Francois gave the Islanders their largest lead of the day 68-30 with 16:40 to go.
 
The Saints did make one push in the second half which included an 11-0 run to get the deficit down to 72-48 with 10:42 left. The closest they came was 78-56 before Bertain drilled a three and White hit a jumper to get the edge back up to 83-56 at the 6:27 mark.
 
Up next, A&M-Corpus Christi will host the Islander Holiday Invitational with games against Paul Quinn at 2 p.m. Tuesday and 5 p.m. Wednesday in the Dugan Wellness Center.
 
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 6-0 all-time against OLLU.
 
- The Islanders shot over 60 percent from the field for the first time since Feb. 15, 2017 when they posted a .606 mark at Incarnate Word. The school record is .672 against Huston Tillotson on Feb. 22, 2006.
 
- Myles Smith's 12 assists matched the school record set by Hameed Ali at Northwestern State on Jan. 19, 2016. His previous career-high in assists was eight against Huston Tillotson on Dec. 18, 2018.
 
- White's 24 points surpassed his previous career-high of 14 against Texas A&M-International in the season-opener. It was his second double-double of the year as he shot 8-of-13 from the floor.
 
- Francois topped his previous career-high of 16 points against UTRGV this year at home. It was his 10th career double-figure scoring game and fifth this season. Francois was 10-of-12 from the field.
 
- By going 5-for-5 at the free throw line, Bertain is now a perfect 21-for-21 on the season. He notched his eighth career double-digit performance and third in a row. Over the last three games, Bertain is averaging 15.0 points per game and is 9-of-13 (.692) from three-point range.
 
- Peyton Smith was one-point shy of his career-high set at Stephen F. Austin last year. He was 4-of-5 from the field and 3-for-3 from beyond-the-arc.
 
- Head coach Willis Wilson has won 140 games overall since arriving at The Island University and is the program's career leader in coaching victories.
 
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