EDINBURG, Texas – Finding themselves down at the half, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team fought the rest of the way to pull out the 10-point win over UTRGV to conclude this year's South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union.
With just a point separating the two at the half, the teams fought for lead possession until a 10-0 scoring run from the Islanders (5-5) with 2:28 remaining solidified the final lead change as they avenged its loss in the first meeting with UTRGV (3-8).
It was largely due to junior
Garry Clark's 22-point second half who finished 12-of-15 from the field. The team itself shot 50.0 percent from the floor, outscoring the Vaqueros 60-28 in the paint. The Islanders also held a 43-28 advantage on the glass including 15-4 in offensive boards.
Along with Clark's season-high 26 points, he also came away with the double-double after pulling down 10 rebounds, half of which were offensive boards. He was one of four Islanders in double figures scoring along with junior
Jordan Roberts (19), graduate
Marion Humphrey (14), and junior
Dian Wright-Forde.
The Vaqueros looked to Hasan Adbul-Hakim for the majority of the night, who came off the bench to play 32 minutes and score 23 points. Four of UTRGV's starters scored in double figures.
Humphrey banked in the contested shot at 18:14 to initiate the night, though, UTRGV put together a 6-0 run to lead it 8-4 five minutes in. Junior
Shilo Jackson got up for the dunk as the Islanders went on to convert on six of their next seven field goals when Humphrey scored off the steal to tie things up at 16-all.
A&M-Corpus Christi took the lead 18-16 once Wright-Forde was done at the charity strip before he connected with Humphrey to make it a 20-19 game with 9:03 to go. UTRGV reversed it again and went up 30-24 before each side saw a flurry of buckets. Clark laid it in to get the Islanders back within two at 32-30 and the putback by redshirt senior
Dayne Prim pushed the Islanders closer, 34-33, at 2:47. The three-ball by Roberts then changed the tone and pushed the Islanders back up by two.
Tied at 38, Wright-Forde sank a pair of free throws for the two-point advantage, but UTRGV nailed a last second three to take a 41-40 lead into the break.
Three straight inside shots from Clark helped the Islanders stay on pace with the Vaqueros in the second before Roberts punched home a three to tie things up at 49-49 with 16:02 on the clock. Clark converted on the steal by Prim to take the lead and force a UTRGV timeout.
Clark didn't let up, as he converted on the offensive board to get the Islanders up 59-55 with 12:13 to go. Roberts sank the jumper at 8:19 to lead it 68-63 but UTRGV fired back a 6-0 run. Though, the Islanders answered with 10 straight points as the fastbreak alley-oop from Roberts to Humphrey had UTRGV calling a timeout with 2:28 remaining.
A&M-Corpus Christi never relented, as the steal and dunk by Humphrey within the final 15 seconds of play capped the 86-76 victory.
The teams split the yearly series, though, the Islanders earn the attendance point after driving in 2,296 fans compared to UTRGV's 1,012. A&M-Corpus Christi now leads institutional series 18.5 to 14.5 points.
The Islanders will return home to the Dugan Wellness Center to face Texas Lutheran Monday at 11 a.m. It will be Education Day, presented by Whataburger.
NOTES
- It was the backend of the two-game series for the Islanders and UTRGV this season after the teams met less than 10 days prior. A&M-Corpus Christi is now 18-13 all-time over the Vaqueros and 9-6 when the teams play in Edinburg.
- The Islanders are now 20-0 over the last three seasons when shooting over .500 FG%.
- The team entered the game leading the SLC in rebounding margin (+9.4), offensive rebounds (14.9 orpg), and total rebounds (42.3 rpg). They were right above par with 43 rebounds and 15 offensive rebounds, but will improve after outrebounding the Vaqueros by 15.
- The Islanders were also ranked fourth nationally in bench points per game (38.89) before tonight and will improve on that mark as well after recording 43 bench points.
- Clark submitted his second double-double of the season and second straight 10+ scoring game. His 26 points is a career-high and the most scored by an Islander this year. His 12 made fields goals is the most made by an Islander in a game since the 2018-19 season when Kareem South made 12 against Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 20, 2019.
- Roberts also turned in his career-high scoring with 19 points, topping his previous best of 17 set against Schreiner nearly one year ago to the day (12/16/22). It was his second time this year to make seven field goals.
- Similarly, Humphrey registered his season-best of 14 points. It was his fifth time to score in double figures this year. It was his third time dishing out at least five assists (6).
- Wright-Forde recorded his fifth double figure scoring game of the season and fourth in the last five games. He continues to lead the team in scoring, averaging 11.0 ppg.
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