COMMERCE, Texas – Winning the Southland Conference regular season outright, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program gutted out a 93-88 overtime win on the road at Texas A&M-Commerce on Wednesday at The Field House.
The Islanders (21-10, 14-4 SLC) had already locked up the No. 1 seed and at least a share of the SLC regular season title coming into the day, but the win kept them a full game ahead of Northwestern State (21-10, 13-5 SLC) in the final standings.
A&M-Corpus Christi won its fourth championship in program history, second regular season title and first since 2006-07. The Islanders have won championships in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history after winning the SLC Tournament last year.
The game was back-and-forth the whole way with the Lions (13-19, 9-9 SLC) and featured eight ties and 19 lead changes. The Islanders didn't create separation until overtime when they scored the first seven points to leap ahead.
Rebounding played a large role in the game as A&M-Corpus Christi outrebounded the Lions 45-28. The Islanders pulled down 13 offensive rebounds compared to A&M-Commerce's four.
A career-high came from senior
Terrion Murdix with 27 points to go along with eight assists and six rebounds. Senior
Isaac Mushila also turned in a big game with 21 points and 17 rebounds, which matched a career-high.
Graduate
Ross Williams came up big in the second half where he scored all 15 of his points. Senior
Trevian Tennyson also reached double-figures with 13 points.
The Islanders shot 22-of-23 (.957) from the charity stripe. It included a 9-for-9 effort by Murdix.
The Lions were guided by C.J. Roberts who came off the bench to score 24 points. Jerome Brewer Jr. aided the attack with 16 points.
Freshman
Owen Dease hit a pair of early threes to give the Islanders a 12-10 edge at the 13:54 mark. Though, the Lions responded with a 9-0 run to lead 19-12 with 9:44 to go.
The Lions were still up 37-30 when the Islanders ended the half on a 9-0 run in the final two minutes. It included a game-tying bucket inside by Mushila and a go-ahead lay-in by senior
De'Lazarus Keys on the team's final possession to take a 39-37 advantage into the locker room.
A&M-Commerce scored the first five points of the second half to go up 42-39 with 18:55 left. The Lions extended it to 60-54 with 11:25 remaining after a three by Demarcus Demonia.
The Islanders responded with an 8-2 run as three by Williams evened it 62-62 at the 9:42 mark. Another three by Williams gave A&M-Corpus Christi a 65-63 edge with 8:17 to go. Williams kept it going and drained his third three to keep the Islanders in front 72-71 with 4:39 left.
The score was tied 78-78 when the Islanders had the opportunity to hold for the final shot, but a drive and a field goal attempt with three seconds left was off the mark. The Lions threw up a three-quarters court heave at the buzzer that hit the rim but clanked to send it to overtime.
A&M-Corpus Christi took control in overtime after scoring the first seven points to lead 85-78 after a bucket by Mushila with 2:01 remaining. A pair of free throws by senior
Simeon Fryer put it out of reach 89-80 with 40 seconds to go.
As the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, the Islanders will play Tuesday, March 7 at 5:30 p.m. in the SLC semifinals on ESPNU. Possible opponents include Nicholls, A&M-Commerce and McNeese.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi won its fifth consecutive road game. The Islanders were both 7-2 at home and on the road in conference. A&M-Corpus Christi has won 10 of its last 11 games overall.
- The Islanders and the Lions split the season series. Head coach
Steve Lutz does not have a losing record against any SLC opponent. He improved to 44-22 overall in two seasons.
- It was the first overtime win for the Islanders since March 2, 2019 when they beat UIW 74-72 on the road.
- A&M-Corpus Christi entered the day ranked seventh in the nation in free throw percentage (.785) and will improve upon its tally after going 22-of-23 (.957).
- The Islanders outrebounded 16 of 18 opponents in conference.
- A&M-Commerce's biggest scoring run was nine straight points. The Islanders only gave up a scoring run of 10 or more consecutive points one time in conference and just twice on the entire season.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is now 159-128 all-time in the Southland Conference since joining the league in 2006-07.
- Murdix surpassed his previous career-high of 25 points at Nicholls on Feb. 16. He entered the game ranked 22nd in the nation in assists per game (5.5) and dished out eight. His nine made field goals tied a career-high. Murdix registered 20-plus points for the seventh time in his career and fourth this year. He logged a career-high 39:11 minutes.
- Mushila notched his 12th double-double of the season and is one away from tying the school record set by himself last year and Rashawn Thomas in 2016-17. He entered the game ranked 17th in the country in rebounding (9.6) and nearly doubled his average with 17. It was the fifth time in his career that he pulled down 17 rebounds.
- Tennyson has already broken the school record for threes made in a season with 94. He surpassed Josh Washington's mark of 90 in 2006-07. Tennyson is now eyeing the career record in just his second season as his 168 makes are just 12 behind Brandon Pye's 180 from 2012-16. Tennyson scored in double-figures in all 18 conference games.
- Williams recorded his 14th double-figure scoring game of the season. He was 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from long range.
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