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KATY, Texas – Moving one step closer to a championship, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program knocked off top-seeded Nicholls 71-64 Friday in the semifinals of the SLC Championship at the Merrell Center.
A&M-Corpus Christi (22-11, 7-7 SLC), which has won six of its last seven games, led Nicholls (21-11, 11-3 SLC) for nearly the entire way. The fourth-seeded Islanders were up by 11 at halftime and fended off a comeback attempt as the Colonels cut it to two, but A&M-Corpus Christi never gave up the lead in the second half.
A&M-Corpus Christi controlled the glass where it outrebounded Nicholls 46-34. The Islanders also garnered contributions all-around as they outscored the Colonels 21-3 off the bench.
For the second straight night, senior
Simeon Fryer led the way with 20 points. He drilled five threes, which matched a career-most.
Flirting with a triple-double was junior
Terrion Murdix, an SLC All-Defensive Team honoree. He registered 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Turning in a double-double was junior
Isaac Mushila with 12 points and 10 rebounds, including seven offensive boards. Mushila was named to the All-Conference Second-Team. Sophomore
Stephen Faramade also recorded a big night with 12 points off the bench.
The Colonels were paced by Latrell Jones who finished with 20 points. Ty Gordon, the SLC Player of the Year, ended with 14 points. Devante Carter scored 17 points.
The only time Islanders trailed was 8-4 early but they scored the next seven points to go up 11-8 after a three by Fryer at the 15:39 mark. A&M-Corpus Christi extended it to 29-18 with 6:47 to go after Faramade slammed home a dunk, junior
Trevian Tennyson drilled a three and Faramade scored a lay-in.
A&M-Corpus Christi pushed the lead up further 34-20 after Fryer nailed a three with 5:31 remaining. Nicholls went on a 7-0 run to trim its deficit in half, but a couple more lay-ups by Faramade gave the Islanders a 38-27 advantage at the intermission.
Nicholls hit a pair of threes to cut it to 46-38 with 15:10 left in the second half. A three by Fryer kept the Islanders ahead 54-44 with 11:28 remaining.
The Colonels slowly chipped into the lead. The got it to 59-52 with 7:14 to go and then scored the next five points to trail just 59-57 at the 6:39 mark.
Fryer and Murdix responded with big threes to go back up 65-57 with 4:39 remaining. A second-chance lay-up by Mushila changed it to 68-59 with 2:37 left.
In the championship, the Islanders will face seconded-seeded Southeastern at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. The game can be watched nationally on ESPN2 or heard live for free on 1440 AM NewsTalk K-E-Y-S with
Steven King on the call.
A&M-Corpus Christi and SLU split a pair of meetings this year each winning on the road.
NOTES
- The Islanders improved to 11-9 all-time against Nicholls It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools at the conference tournament.
- The Islanders are now 10-9 all-time in the SLC Tournament and will make their fourth-ever appearance in the finals.
- The Islanders are playing for their first SLC Tournament title since 2006-07 when they beat Northwestern State 81-78 in the championship. They are playing for their third conference championship after also winning the regular season in 2006-07.
- A&M-Corpus Christi entered the tournament ranked ninth in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (13.13) and pulled down 14.
- A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 16-0 this season when holding the opposition to 70 points or less.
- Fryer, who is the only Islander to start in every game this year, has hit nine threes (9-16) in two games of the SLC Tournament and is averaging 18.0 points per game. He was one point shy of a season-high. Fryer tallied his fourth career 20-plus scoring outing, 19th career double-figure scoring game and 12th this season.
- Mushila began the tournament ranked eighth in the country in offensive rebounds per game (3.55) and secured seven. He notched his 13th double-double, 24th double-figure scoring and 15th double-digit rebounding game of the year.
- Murdix's eight assists were his second-most of the year. He submitted his 16th career double-figure scoring game and fifth in a row.
- Faramade etched his third-highest scoring game of the season and it was his fourth double-figure scoring game. Faramade was 6-of-9 from the floor and secured six rebounds.
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