HAMMOND, La. – Outscoring Southeastern by 17 in the second half, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program wiped away a halftime deficit to defeat the Lions 86-71 on Thursday at the University Center.
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The Islanders (16-5, 3-1 SLC) were down 36-34 at the intermission and still trailed SLU (10-11, 2-2 SLC) with 13:05 left in the second half when they went on a run to take control. A&M-Corpus Christi reeled off a decisive 11-1 spurt to go up 59-50 with 10:07 left and the lead never dropped below six points the rest of the way.
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Five student-athletes scored in double-figures to help A&M-Corpus Christi net 52 points in the second half. On the defensive end, the Islanders guarded the three-point line which had been a strength of the Lions and limited them to a .100 (2-20) clip.
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Juniors
Isaac Mushila and
Trevian Tennyson scored 19 points apiece. Senior
De'Lazarus Keys submitted 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Senior
Myles Smith scored 14 points and junior
Terrion Murdix 12.
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SLU was paced by Jalyn Hinton who had a double-double of 24 points and 13 rebounds.
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A&M-Corpus Christi led 9-7 early after a bucket in the post by Keys. Though, the Lions answered with a 10-0 run to go up 17-9 at the 11:05 mark.
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Still down 31-21, a basket by Mushila started a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 31-27 with 2:31 left. The Islanders turned it into a 13-3 spurt to tie it 34-34 with 25 seconds after a pair of free throws by senior
Simeon Fryer. SLU scored the final bucket of the half to take a 36-34 edge into the break.
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The Islanders scored the first two buckets of the second half on a jumper by Keys and a transition lay-up by Smith to lead 38-36 with 17:55 to go. Though, the Lions regained a 48-47 advantage with 13:05 left – their final lead of the night.
Smith scored a go-ahead layup with 12:53 remaining and then hit a long range shot to make it a 52-48 game with 12:19 left. A&M-Corpus Christi extended it to 59-50 after Tennyson nailed a three and quickly followed it up with a jumper after a steal with 10:07 to go.
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The lead increased into double-figures 64-54 after Keys converted a second chance bucket at the 7:08 mark. A three-pointer by junior
Jalen Jackson was the dagger and made it 79-65 at the 1:45 mark.
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The Islanders will wrap-up the weekend Saturday with another road game at 3:30 p.m. against Northwestern State at Prather Coliseum.
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NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi has more than tripled its win total from last season when it finished 5-19 overall.
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- The Islanders improved to 12-8 all-time against Southeastern.
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- A&M-Corpus Christi entered the night ranked top-five in the nation in turnovers forced per game (18.5) and 18th in steals per game (9.3). The team forced 20 turnovers and grabbed 14 steals.
- Mushila now averages 18.0 points and 12.0 rebounds through four SLC games. He poured in his 17th double-figure scoring game of the year and seventh in a row. Mushila was 11-of-12 from the free throw line and it was the fourth time he's made at least 10 free throws in a game.
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- Tennyson continued his streak of hitting a three-pointer in every game this year. It was his 11th double-figure scoring game of the season.
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- Keys topped his previous career-high of 12 rebounds set twice. He etched his third career double-double and second in the last three games. It was also his 10th career double-digit scoring performance and seventh this season. Keys was 6-of-8 from the field.
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- Murdix, who was coming off a career-high 21 points vs. HBU, tallied his eighth double-figure scoring game of the year. He made his first career start and was 5-of-10 from the floor.
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- Smith turned in his 55th career double-figure scoring game and is up to 1,115 career points.
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- The Islanders are off to their best start in conference play since 2015-16.
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