CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team turned in an 84-61 decision against Schreiner Saturday in the Dugan Wellness Center to finish up its nonconference schedule.
The Islanders (7-6) utilized an all-team effort for the win, as all available student-athletes saw time on the court with everyone taking a shot. They ended with a .448 field goal shooting, while holding Schreiner (9-4) to a .344 clip.
A&M-Corpus Christi controlled the pace and scored 26 off the fastbreak, while also outscoring Schreiner 23-8 off turnovers. Although the Mountaineers held a 13-12 advantage on the offensive boards, the Islanders were able to better convert for 16 second chance points compared to Schreiner's eight.
Redshirt sophomore
Owen Dease led the game with 16 points after going 2-for-2 from three and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. He was one of three Islanders in double figures along with junior
Garry Clark (15) and redshirt sophomore
Stephen Giwa (13).
Clark made the team-high seven field goals and also got up for 10 rebounds for the double-double.
Schreiner played 21 athletes during the game, but Rodney Hunter was the only one to score at least 10 against the Islanders, doing so through just seven minutes.
Although Schreiner struck first, the Islanders responded with a 12-0 run as the fastbreak lay-in by Dease made it 12-2 at 15:23. Junior
Tedrick Washington Jr. added two on the takeaway before Clark got inside to make it 16-4. Schreiner would trim its deficit back into single figures at 9:18, but Giwa bucketed the contested shot in the next possession and the Islanders never led by less than 10 points from there.
Clark got a pair of putbacks to up the lead to 30-17 with 7:02 to go. Graduate
Marion Humphrey then snagged the steal before finishing it with the one-handed slam dunk. The three-pointer from junior
Jordan Roberts upped the lead to 43-24 with under a minute to go before senior Lance Amir-Paul ran the court for last second layup as the Islanders led it 45-26 at the break.
Redshirt senior Dayma Prim went deep for three in the second half as the Islanders pushed their lead to 49-26. He then dished out a pair of assists to Giwa who got up for the putdowns to make it 55-31 at 17:40. Clark and Dease both nailed a shot from downtown to get up to a 64-33 advantage with 14:52 on the clock.
Giwa drew the and-one to up it to 74-45 with 7:26 to go. Though, Schreiner managed a 10-0 scoring run before redshirt freshman
Aaron Harden broke A&M-Corpus Christi's drought with the inside layup at 4:38. Buckets from Roberts and sophomore
Jaren Marshall finished it out for the Islanders who closed out the 84-61 victory.
The Islanders will take the win into conference play, which opens on the road at UIW next Saturday, Jan. 6, at 5 p.m.
NOTES
- It was the fourth all-time meeting between A&M-Corpus Christi and Schreiner, with the Islanders improving to 4-0 against the Mountaineers. The Islanders have held Schreiner to under 70 points in every meeting.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is now 22-0 over the last two seasons when holding the opposition to 70 points or less.
- The Islanders entered the game ranked fourth in the NCAA for bench points per game at 40.42 and will improve after the bench contributed 42 points.
- Clark turned in his fourth double-double of the season. It was also his seventh double figure scoring game of the season and fourth in the last five games. His seven made field goals was his second highest after making 12 at UTRGV on Dec. 15.
- Dease submitted his fourth 10+ performance of the year and ninth in his career. His 16 points matches his career-high, which he set in the 2023 SLC Championship against Northwestern State to help the Islanders win their second straight tournament title. He was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line, another career best.
- Giwa registered his first double figure scoring game of the year, but fifth in his career. It is the first time he has scored 10+ points in a game since he scored 12 against Nicholls on March 11, 2022 in the semifinals of the SLC Tournament en route to the tournament championship.
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