CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Applying early pressure, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team came out of opening SLC weekend unscathed after cruising to an 81-59 victory over HCU Monday night at the American Bank Center.
The Islanders (9-6, 2-0 SLC) locked down on defense and forced 12 HCU (2-11, 0-2 SLC) turnovers in the first half for the 36-23 halftime lead. The offense then came alive in the second as A&M-Corpus Christi poured in 45 points in the final 20 minutes to finish with the +22 margin.
A&M-Corpus Christi bucketed 35 field goals, with assists coming in 21 of those. The Islanders converted 24 points off turnovers, 17 second chance points, and 25 on the fastbreak as they took early control and maintained it throughout.
Junior
Garry Clark got the 18-point, 10-rebound double-double after going 8 of 13 from the field. Fellow juniors
Jordan Roberts and
Dian Wright-Forde also ended in double figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively, as all three turned in back-to-back games of scoring 10+ points.
All 15 available student-athletes saw time on the court. Redshirt senior
Dayne Prim came off the bench as a key contributor with eight points and eight rebounds. Redshirt sophomore
Stephen Giwa and senior
Lance-Amir Paul also each finished with eight points.
HCU shot a decent 44.0 percent from the field as three Huskies ended in double digits, but their costly turnovers gave the Islanders 27 more chances at a field goal.
Off to an 8-0 run to start the game, Roberts opened up big with the downtown shot to get underway. Clark laid it in at 18:21 before nailing the three at 17:50 to force the HCU timeout. The Huskies finally got on the board at 16:46 but Parker on the takeaway pulled the Islanders out to a 12-5 lead.
Clark got in for the steal and dished it to Wright-Forde who got to the rim on the fastbreak for the 18-11 lead at 10:01. HCU chipped back, though, and got within one at 24-23 but Clark netted a trio of buckets to create a bit more separation with 2:56 to go. Prim got the offensive board for the putback as the Islanders went up 34-23 and Paul drove the last possession for another two points heading into the break.
Giwa nailed the inside jumper to begin the second half, and Clark drew the and-one to push the Islanders to a 42-27 lead at 17:41. Paul hit the mid-range shot to keep A&M-Corpus Christi ahead by 15 with 13:35 to go. The three from Wright-Forde had the Islanders ahead 54-38 and another second chance bucket by Prim made it 57-38 at 9:16.
The Islanders had some fun the next two possessions, as Giwa took it all the way for the slam dunk before Humphrey got up for the one-handed putdown off the steal. Wright-Forde netted the next three field goals for the Islanders as they led it 75-53 following the fastbreak lay-in from junior
Xavier Glenn with 2:08 remaining.
Parker pushed the Islanders past 80 after the long-range shot with under 30 seconds left in the contest.
A&M-Corpus Christi will now takes its 2-0 SLC record on the road to New Orleans and Southeastern next weekend before returning home on Jan. 20 to host Nicholls.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi improves to 15-6 all-time against Houston Christian and 9-1 at home. The Islanders have now won seven of the last 10 meetings with the Huskies.
- It is just the second-ever time that the Islanders held HCU to under 60 points and first since 2013-14 when they beat the Huskies 65-45. The Islanders are now 24-0 over the last two seasons when holding the opposition to 70 points or less.
- Following opening weekend, A&M-Corpus Christi's 35 made field goals, 49 rebounds, 21 assists, and 14 steals tonight are all game-highs in SLC play among the league so far. The Islanders are the only Southland team to have recorded at least 10 steals in both of their first two SLC games.
- A&M-Corpus Christi entered the game leading the conference in total rebounds per game (41.6), offensive rebounds per game (14.1) and rebounding margin (+7.9) and will improve on all marks after recording 49 rebounds, 18 offensive rebounds, and a +19 rebounding margin.
- Clark registered his sixth double-double of the season and third in a row. He has scored 10+ points in six of the last seven games and has grabbed 10 rebounds in five of the last six.
- Wright-Forde submitted his eighth double figure scoring game of the season, third in a row, and fourth in the last five games. His 14 points came from just 18 minutes of playing.
- Roberts has scored 11 points in both conference games this weekend. It is his fifth 10+ scoring game of the season, 11
th in his career, and fourth in the last six games. It was the first time this season he scored in double digits without making more than one three-pointer.
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