EL PASO, Texas – Never trailing in the second half, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program closed out a massive 67-63 road win over UTEP on Wednesday at the Don Haskins Center.
The Islanders (3-4) led 64-63 when senior
Dayne Prim converted a second, or perhaps third-chance opportunity to give them a three-point advantage with 11.8 seconds left. On UTEP's (5-3) final possession, A&M-Corpus Christi's defense made a stand and forced a turnover, which caused the Miners to foul with a second left.
UTEP was seemingly in control for much of the first half until the Islanders turned the tide in the last six minutes. A 25-19 deficit flipped into a 33-28 lead after late scores by junior
Dian Wright-Forde and graduate
Lance-Amir Paul.
The Miners tied it three times in the second half, including 60-60 with 3:34 remaining but the Islanders kept attacking the rim, drew fouls and didn't let UTEP get in front. The final go-ahead points for A&M-Corpus Christi were free throws by sophomore
Owen Dease to lead 62-60 with 2:36 left.
Bench contributions from Wright-Forde and
Tedrick Washington Jr. played a vital role in the win as the Islanders outscored the Miners 36-11 off the bench. Wright-Forde poured in a game-high 17 points, while Washington netted 11. It was Washington's first game back from injury after missing the previous four due to injury.
Four Islanders scored in double-figures. Along with Wright-Forde and Washington, Paul registered 11 points and three steals, while junior
Garry Clark notched 10 points and six rebounds.
Prim also turned in a big night as he etched season-highs of eight points and 12 rebounds. The 12 rebounds were the most by an Islander in a game this year, and he helped the team outrebound UTEP 37-32. It came after A&M-Corpus Christi entered the night leading the Southland Conference in rebounding margin.
The Islanders got off to a slow start and trailed 5-0. UTEP's largest lead of the game was 15-7 at the 12:37 mark.
Back-to-back lay-ups by Wright-Forde got A&M-Corpus Christi going, and a jumper by Clark trimmed it to 17-14 with 10:30 to go. A three by Washington cut it to 19-18 with 7:01 left.
A&M-Corpus Christi's first lead of the game came on a drive by Wright-Forde to make it 30-28 with 1:49 remaining. Free throws by Wright-Forde and Paul gave the Islanders a 33-28 edge at the break.
The Islanders came out firing in the second and extended their advantage to 43-36 after a jumper by Prim at the 14:32 mark. Though, the Miners fought back and came back to even it 47-47 near the mid-way point.
Still tied 58-58, A&M-Corpus Christi went back in front on a field goal by Wright-Forde with 4:23 to go. The Islanders stayed ahead 62-60 after free throws by Dease with 2:36 left, and was up 64-61 with 1:29 remaining on free throws by Wright-Forde.
UTEP drew a foul on the other end and made two free throws to trail 64-63 with 42 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, a pair of offensive rebounds eventually resulted in Prim's lay-up to lead 66-63 with 11 seconds.
It was the last of a four-game stretch away from home, the longest road stretch of the season. A&M-Corpus Christi returns home next Wednesday to host UTRGV at 7 p.m. at the American Bank Center in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union.
NOTES
- The Islanders posted their first road win against UTEP since Feb. 18, 2003 in a 77-72 road victory. It was just the fifth meeting between the two programs and the second win for A&M-Corpus Christi in the series.
- It was the first career road win for head coach
Jim Shaw, who ironically earned his Master's degree from UTEP in 2005. Shaw served on UTEP's staff for three years which included an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2004 and an NIT berth in 2005.
- The game was a Homecoming for junior
Christian Villegas, an El Paso native that played high school ball at Andress HS. Villegas played six minutes.
- Seven different Islanders secured a rebound in the game, and at least seven have pulled down a rebound in every game this year.
- A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 19-0 over the last three seasons when holding the opposition to 70 points or less.
- The Islanders began the day ranked second in the SLC in scoring defense (69.5 ppg) and held the Miners to 63 points.
- Wright-Forde recorded his third double-figure scoring game of the season and was coming off a season-high 19 points against LIU. He was 6-of-10 from the field and ended with a plus/minus of +12.
- Washington played in just his third game of the season due to injury. His previous season-high was eight points against Southwestern Adventist. Washington was 4-of-8 from the floor and drilled a three.
- Paul submitted his fifth double-digit scoring performance in the last six games. He was 9-of-10 from the free throw line, and his nine made free throws were the most by an Islander in a game this year.
- Clark reached double-digits for the third time this season. He was 4-of-8 from the field and has pulled down at least five rebounds in every game this year.
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