NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team nearly pulled off the comeback but fell just short in an 83-80 decision to New Orleans Saturday at Lakefront Arena.
The Islanders (9-7, 2-1 SLC) fought back after being down by 14 in the second-half, answering with a 19-nothing scoring run to take a 60-54 lead. It couldn't hold up, however, as New Orleans (7-9, 2-1 SLC) managed to regain the late edge to end on top.
The physical game had each team attempt over 25 free throws. The Islanders shot 89.3 percent (25-of-28) from the charity strip but the Privateers went 30-of-36 to hold a five-point advantage there.
Though, the Islanders held a 34-32 advantage on the glass and outscored the Privateers 46-20 in the paint.
Junior
Dian Wright-Forde poured in 23 points after going perfect from the free throw line (10-of-10) and 3 of 5 from long-range. He was one of four Islanders in double figures, along with senior
Lance-Amir Paul (16), junior
Jordan Roberts (12), and junior
Garry Clark (11). Clark was two rebounds shy of his fourth consecutive double-double.
UNO relied heavily on the scoring barrage of Jordan Johnson who amassed 40 points in the game. He attacked from the three where he went 6-of-7 and also converted on 14 of his 16 free throw attempts.
Redshirt sophomore
Stephen Giwa gave the Islanders the 6-5 lead at 17:41 with the inside bucket and redshirt senior
Dayne Prim on the putback kept them ahead 8-7. Redshirt sophomore
Owen Dease connected to make it 18-14 and Paul went coast to coast to push the Islanders up 22-16 with 10:29 on the clock. UNO gained momentum and went up 34-31 at 4:44 and despite Giwa and Paul bucketing shots, the Privateers pushed ahead to hold a 46-35 lead at the break.
Wright-Forde netted four free throws to begin the second half for the Islanders, but UNO maintained a 52-39 lead. He then drilled consecutive threes at 15:14 to trim the deficit to 54-44 and initiate a rally.
Clark made two contested shots inside to get the Islanders closer 54-53 before Wright-Forde went deep again to finally reverse the score at 56-54 with 12:48 to go. A perfect round of free throws from both Wright-Forde and Prim capped the 19-0 run as the Islanders led it 60-54 with 11:06 remaining.
Roberts on the fastbreak kept A&M-Corpus Christi ahead 70-65 at 6:54, but it would be a one-possession game the rest of the way as neither team could create a greater cushion. The steal and score by graduate
Marion Humphrey had the Islanders holding a 78-76 edge with 2:16 to go but the Privateers were the ones to score the final go-ahead points following a few rounds of free throws.
The Islanders will remain on the road and head up to face Southeastern Monday night. Tip is set for 6 p.m. and can be watched live on ESPN+.
NOTES
- It was the 24
th all-time meeting between A&M-Corpus Christi and New Orleans.
- The 89.3 FT% is a season-best for the Islanders. It is the second time this season they shot at least 80% from the charity strip but first time to make at least 25 free throws. It is the first time the program made 25+ free throws in a game since they made 27 against SEMO in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament last season.
- At least seven different Islanders have grabbed a rebound in every game this year.
- Wright-Forde submitted his second 20+ scoring game of the season. He has scored at least 10+ points in the last four straight games. He set his new career-highs with 23 points, 10 made free throws, and three made three-pointers.
- Paul recorded his eighth 10+ scoring game of the year and second in the last three games. It was his third time this year to make at least five field goals in a game.
- Roberts registered his sixth double figure scoring game of the season, 12
th in his career, and third in a row. He was 6-of-7 from the free throw line, setting his new career-high in made free throws.
- Clark turned in his 10
th double digit scoring game of the year and fourth in a row. He has made at least five field goals in each of the last four games.
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