Clutch Plays Down Stretch Lead to Big Road Win for A&M-Corpus Christi at Northwestern State

NATCHITOCHES, La. – Picking up where it left off at the end of Southland Conference play last year, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi went on the road and tallied a big 65-59 win over Northwestern State on Saturday at Prather Coliseum.
 
The Demons (8-6, 0-1 SLC) entered play as the highest ranked Southland team in the NET Rankings at 164 out of 363 Division I institutions. A&M-Corpus Christi (8-6, 1-0 SLC), which entered at 217, knocked off a Northwestern State squad that has non-conference wins over No. 15 TCU, Illinois State, Central Arkansas, Stephen F. Austin, Southern Miss, UL-Monroe and Bethune-Cookman.
 
The Islanders trailed 54-53 with 2:14 remaining when senior Terrion Murdix made consecutive clutch drives through the paint to put them ahead 57-54 with 1:34 left. After getting stops defensively, A&M-Corpus Christi continued scoring with a lay-up by senior Isaac Mushila and a pair of free throws by Murdix to cap a decisive 8-0 run and make it a 61-54 game with 34 seconds to go.
 
It came after A&M-Corpus Christi withstood an early second half surge from Northwestern State. The Islanders led 32-24 at the half when the Demons stormed back to take a 43-39 edge at the 11:10 mark.
 
Murdix led all scorers with a game-high 19 points, which was also a season-high. He was one shy of a double-double with a season-high nine rebounds.
 
A double-double came from Mushila with 16 points and 13 rebounds. He helped A&M-Corpus Christi outrebound the Demons 45-35. Senior Trevian Tennyson netted 15 points, including 11 in the second half. Senior Jalen Jackson pitched in with seven points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
Northwestern State garnered 12 points apiece from Dayne Prim and Ja'Monta Black. Demarcus Sharp, who entered the game as the league's leading scorer with 16.2 points per game, ended with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi scored the first five points of the game and led 7-2 early after a jumper by senior De'Lazarus Keys. A driving lay-up by Murdix kept them ahead 13-10 at the 12:47 mark.
 
Still up 19-17, the Islanders took their largest lead of the game 27-17 as a lay-up by Mushila concluded an 8-0 run with 4:12 left. A&M-Corpus Christi carried a 32-24 advantage into the break.
 
The Demons scored the first two baskets of the second half to quickly cut it to 32-28. They took the lead 39-37 on a three by Prim with 13:23 to go and extended it to 43-39 with 11:10 left.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi answered with a field goal by sophomore Jasman Sangha and a deep three by Tennyson to go back in front 44-43 at the 10:20 mark.
 
It was back-and-forth for the next eight minutes and Northwestern State took its final lead 54-53 with 2:33 remaining. The Islanders responded with their 8-0 run, which included six points from Murdix. A&M-Corpus Christi made its final six free throws in the last minute to close it out.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi will play its conference home opener Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. when it hosts UIW. It will be the final game in the Dugan Wellness Center this season.
 
NOTES
- The Islanders improved to 14-7 all-time against Northwestern State, 5-3 on the road and 3-1 under head coach Steve Lutz. A&M-Corpus Christi is 146-124 all-time in the Southland Conference since joining the league in 2006-07.
 
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 2-0 in conference openers under Lutz after beating UIW 80-64 last season at home.
 
- The Islanders are 10-4 in the month of December under Lutz in two seasons. Their only losses are against Power Five schools Minnesota, Notre Dame, Arizona and Oklahoma State all on the road.
 
- A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 21-1 in two seasons under Lutz when the opposition scores below 70 points.
 
- Saturday was the first true road win of the season. The Islanders will return home Wednesday where they are 6-0 with every win by double-figures.
 
- The Islanders entered the game leading the league in free throw percentage (.763) and were right on par with a .778 mark with a 21-for-27 day.
 
- Mushila, who entered the night ranked top-25 in the nation in double-doubles, submitted his sixth of the year and 19th of his career. It was also his 32nd career double-figure scoring game and eighth this year, and 22nd career double-digit rebounding effort and sixth this year.
 
- Murdix dished out three assists and ranks second in the SLC in assists per game with 2.5. His 19 points surpassed his previous season-high of 18 points and UTEP and was two shy of his career-high of 21. His nine rebounds topped his previous season-high of seven against CSU-Bakersfield and was two shy of his career-high 11. Murdix notched his 24th career double-figure scoring game and seventh this year.
 
- Tennyson etched his 29th career double-figure scoring game, ninth this season and third in the last four games. He was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line to increase his percentage to .892 on the year.
 


Stay Social
For all the latest on Islanders Men's Basketball, be sure to follow the team on Twitter (@Islanders_MBB), Instagram (@IslandersMBB) and "like" the team's official Facebook page (IslandersMBB).
 
#ShakasUp