CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team stayed composed on the defensive end to finish with a 69-59 win against Nicholls Saturday at the American Bank Center.
The Islanders (11-7, 4-1 SLC) staved off a rally from Nicholls (8-10, 3-2 SLC) in the second half with a 10-0 scoring run in response. From then, A&M-Corpus Christi rarely led by less than double figures as the team closed out the 69-59 home victory.
The Islanders attacked mainly from the paint where they outscored Nicholls 46-18. They also held a 44-39 edge over the Colonels on the glass including 17-10 in offensive boards,
Junior
Garry Clark posted another high performance with the 22-point, 13-rebound double-double. He shot 50 percent from the field (8-of-16) and had seven offensive boards. Clark has scored in double digits in every conference game so far this year.
Junior
Dian Wright-Forde came off the bench to join Clark in double figures with 14. Redshirt senior
Dayne Prim put up an 8-point, 8-rebound stat line while redshirt sophomore
Stephen Giwa went 4 for 6 from the field for eight points.
Nicholls also had a player reach 20 points with Diante Smith who was 3-for-4 from the three. Jamal West Jr., who entered the game ranked third in the league averaging 16.7 ppg, was held to 12 points.
After winning the tip, the Islanders got started with the lay-in from Clark for the early lead. The and-one for the forward pushed A&M-Corpus Christi out to a 7-2 start as the Islanders got into an early rhythm. The mid-range jumper by junior
Tedrick Washington Jr. pushed it to 12-5 at 15:24 but Nicholls got on a run to get the deficit within one-possession at 14-12. Though, junior
Dian Wright-Forde ran the floor and got up for the one-handed slam to keep a cushion.
Washington forced the turnover and dished it behind him to Clark who flushed it home for the 22-16 lead with 7:19 left in the half. Humphrey applied the pressure and got the steal before swinging it out to redshirt senior
Dayne Prim on the perimeter for the triple and 27-10 lead, forcing the Nicholls timeout. Prim and Clark both hit a jumper to help the Islanders hold a 33-23 lead before the Colonels added two more off a last second bucket going into halftime.
Dease came out of the break for the three-pointer and a 36-27 lead but was answered with back-to-back threes from Nicholls who went on an 11-0 run from there to take its first lead at 15:33. The Colonels remained ahead 40-38 before Prim went deep for the second time, yanking the lead away for the remainder of the game.
Shots in the paint from Clark and Dease pushed the Islanders up 52-42 with 9:35 to go. The putback by redshirt sophomore
Stephen Giwa made it 60-47 at 5:21 and the and-one by Wright-Forde solidified the +10 victory.
The Islanders will look to close out the homestead against McNeese Monday night. The game, presented by CITGO, will be nationally televised on ESPNU with a 6 p.m. CT tip.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi now leads Nicholls 14-9 all-time and 8-2 at home. The Islanders have won the last four meetings now, beginning the streak with a 71-64 win in the semifinals of the 2022 SLC Tournament to advance to the championship en route to winning the title.
- The program improves to 231-109 all-time at home, 152-80 at the American Bank Center, and 7-1 this season.
- A&M-Corpus Christi entered the game national ranked top-15 in off. rebounds per game (14.12), turnovers forced per game (16.35), and rebounds (41.41 rpg). They improve in all with 17 off. rebounds, 18 turnovers forced, and 44 rebounds.
- Clark submitted his eighth double-double of the year and third in conference play. His 13 rebounds are a season-high for both him and the team. It was just his second 20+ scoring game of the season but he has scored at least 10 points in each of the last six games.
- Clark entered the game ranked second in the league in offensive rebounds with 3.4 per game, which also ranked his 32
nd in the NCAA. He will improve on that mark after pulling down seven offensive boards.
- Wright-Forde registered his 10
th scoring game of the season and fifth in the last six games. His 14 points will up his season average of 11.2 ppg.
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