HAMMOND, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team got back into the win column after playing long ball Monday night to push past Southeastern 73-68 at Pride Roofing Center.
The Islanders (10-7, 3-1 SLC) converted 11 field goals from beyond-the-arc to help garner the five-point decision over SLU (6-11, 1-3 SLC). Six came in the first half, as A&M-Corpus Christi held a five-point lead at the break which stuck to the end as the teams were evened in the second half.
The Islanders also held a 38-33 advantage on the glass for a slight edge in second chance points.
Junior
Jordan Roberts was vital to that long-range barrage as he ended 5-of-11 from three. He finished with the team-high 17 points and was joined in double figures by junior
Garry Clark (12) and redshirt sophomore
Owen Dease (10). Roberts and Clark have scored at least 10 points in every conference game so far this season.
SLU had four of its five starters finish in double figures including the game leader Roger McFarlane who scored 18.
Aside from a pair of free throws from redshirt sophomore
Stephen Giwa, neither team could net a field goal until SLU hit a three at 16:42. Dease nailed the transition three in response to regain a 5-3 lead before going deep again on the next possession to push it to 8-5. SLU went back up, but Clark got to the corner for the three at 13:44 for another round of go-ahead points.
Giwa got up for the block at 5:42 as junior
Tedrick Washington Jr. converted on the pull-up three to make it a 22-15 game. Graduate
Marion Humphrey netted the jumper inside the paint for a 29-21 lead with 2:45 left in the half, and the jumper at the buzzer from redshirt senior
Dayne Prim sent the Islanders to the break up 33-28.
Roberts came out of the half and sank a pair of long-range shots for a 39-32 lead. Roberts again from three was matched with the deep shot from junior
Dian Wright-Forde as the Islanders pulled ahead 53-44 with 8:25 to go. Clark drew the and-one as the Islanders saw a double-digit advantage with their biggest lead coming at 58-45 off the inside lay-in by Wright-Forde.
Dease slammed it home on the dunk off the turnover before getting it to Clark on the next play who got up himself for the dunk as the Islanders led it 71-65 with just 34 seconds remaining. The Lions tried chipping away at the cushion and made it a one-possession game, but the insurance points from Humphrey secured the win for the Islanders.
The Islanders will now return home to host Nicholls on Saturday before taking on McNeese next Monday at the American Bank Center. The game against the Cowboys will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi improves to 15-10 all-time over Southeastern and now takes a 6-5 advantage when playing in Hammond. The Islanders have won on the road at Southeastern for the past three seasons now.
- The 11 made three-pointers in a season-high for the Islanders. It was just the second time they made at least 10 threes in a game this year after they netted 10 against Dallas Christian back on Nov. 13.
- The Islanders are now 25-0 over the last two seasons when holding the opposition to under 70 points. It is the third SLC opponent this year that A&M-Corpus Christi has held to under 70 points.
- It is the second time in SLC play this year that the Islanders had fewer than 10 turnovers.
- Roberts turned in his seventh double figure scoring game of the season, 13
th in his career, and fourth in a row. His five made three-pointers is a career-high, beating his previous best of four set against Texas Lutheran on Nov. 9, 2021.
- Clark recorded his 11
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 five games.
- Dease submitted his fifth 10+ scoring game of the season, 10
th in his career, and first in conference play this year. He has made at least a pair of three-pointers in a game five times this season.
- Humphrey entered the game leading the league in assist/turnover ratio (3.2) and will improve after recording seven assists and only two turnovers. The seven assists match his career-high, first set at UTRGV on Dec. 15, 2023. He has recorded at least five assists in a game five times this year.
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