SAN ANTONIO – A game-winning drive by freshman
Jalen Jackson with 1.5 seconds left lifted the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program to a thrilling 69-67 win over Denver on a neutral court Wednesday at the Convocation Center, hosted by UTSA.
With eight seconds on the clock, Jackson went coast-to-coast and dashed his way through traffic to lay it in. A San Antonio native, Jackson did it in front of his home crowd. It capped a huge day for Jackson, who tallied a season-high 19 points to lead all scorers.
"I'm very happy for the team and am overjoyed for Jalen. He's worked extremely hard each and every day and is one of the guys that puts in all the extra time in the gym. For him to be able to win it in front of his family and friends is a testament and reward for everything he's done so far," said head coach
Steve Lutz.
The victory came after A&M-Corpus Christi (3-1) defeated IUPUI 65-59 yesterday.
"It feels great and we're obviously excited to be in this position at this point of the season, considering we have a brand new team. The guys have really been buying into our team-first approach and understand the amount of work it takes to build a championship program," Lutz said.
The back-and-forth second half saw the Islanders lead 58-48 with 7:58 remaining. However, Denver (2-3) came charging back and took a 64-61 edge with 1:43 left. A key three-pointer by
Myles Smith tied it, and the team's exchanged three points apiece to keep it deadlocked until the final drive.
Jackson was one of two student-athletes in double-figures for A&M-Corpus Christi. Junior
Isaac Mushila neared a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Despite the Pioneers shooting it slightly better than the Islanders, turnovers played a large part of the game for the second day in a row. A&M-Corpus Christi won the turnover battle 18-13 and posted a significant 30-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
KJ Hunt led Denver with 16 points, including a free throw with eight seconds left which tied the game.
It was tied 12-12 early when the Pioneers scored five straight to build a 17-12 edge at the 9:43 mark. They extended it to 22-14 with 7:08 to go.
Still trailing 25-19, the Islanders stormed back with a big 15-2 run to catapult ahead 34-27 with 2:39 remaining. The spurt included a three-pointer by junior
Trevian Tennyson to even it 27-27 and a long-range shot by Jackson to put them in front.
A&M-Corpus Christi's largest lead of the half 38-30 came after a pair of free throws by Tennyson, but Denver scored the last four points of the period to make it a 38-34 game at the intermission.
The Islanders were seemingly in control for most of the second half. A jumper by senior
San Antonio Brinson put them back up 48-40 at the 16:07 mark, and a pair of free throws by junior
Terrion Murdix increased it to 52-43 with 11:50 remaining.
After a three by Jackson changed the score to 58-48 with 7:58 left, the momentum started to turn.
Denver responded with a quick 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 58-54 with 5:25 to go. The Pioneers came within one 59-58 with 3:38 remaining, and after they drew an offensive foul, they took the lead on a lay-up by Michael Henn with 2:50 left.
The Pioneers forced another turnover and scored to go up 64-61 at the 1:43 mark. Smith answered with a three to tie it. Denver went back up 66-64 on a lay-in, but a three-point play by Jackson had the Islanders up 67-66 with 49 seconds left.
Denver tied it 67-67 after Hunt drew a foul and made the second of two free throws, which then led to the final sequence.
The Islanders will return to San Antonio on Sunday when they play the host institution UTSA at 3 p.m. in the tournament finale.
NOTES
- Wednesday was the seventh meeting between the Islanders and the Pioneers, and A&M-Corpus Christi's first win in the series since the initial meeting on Dec. 21, 2001. It was the first time the two teams met on a neutral court.
- It was the first time since 2016-17 that A&M-Corpus Christi posted back-to-back wins over Division I opponents prior to conference play.
- The last time the Islanders beat a Division I non-conference opponent by two points or less was Nov. 15, 2013 in a 72-71 win over IPFW.
- A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 23-20 all-time in neutral court games.
- The Islanders have outscored the opposition in points in the paint and in fast break points in all four games this year. They outscored Denver 32-24 in the paint and 17-7 in fast breaks.
- Jackson registered his second double-figure scoring game of the year. He went 7-for-11 from the field and 2-for-2 from long-range. Jackson topped his previous season-high of 13 points at Texas A&M.
- Mushila etched his second straight double-digit performance after submitting 16 points yesterday in the win over IUPUI. He was 5-of-6 from the floor and his nine rebounds were a season-high. Mushila now leads the team in both scoring and rebounding on the season with 11.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per outing.
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