CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team came out in control against Lamar before struggling to convert in the second half to relinquish their lead in the final minutes, eventually falling 65-61 Thursday night in the Dugan Wellness Center.
It was a tale of two halves for the Islanders (5-4, 0-1 SLC), but this time it didn't align with their usual trend of out-performing in the second half. They continued their recent shooting success into tonight's first half where they shot 55.2 percent from the field, showing some momentum from a previous four-game streak of shooting above 50.0 percent. That mark dwindled in the latter frame as just 19 points came from A&M-Corpus Christi's offense.
The early conference matchup came on an unfortunate night of three-point shooting for the Islanders who went 0-13 from long range to still lose by just a four-point margin. The free throw line was also not kind to A&M-Corpus Christi tonight, where they missed out on 10 points after going 13-of-23 from the stripe. Meanwhile, Lamar (3-5, 1-0 SLC) was able to scrounge up just enough points against a tough defensive effort down the stretch to come away with the late reversal.
The defense held Lamar to no more than 33 points in a half, applying pressure for 15 Cardinals turnovers and 11 accredited team steals. The Islanders also kept the fouls to a minimum, allowing Lamar to only visit the charity strip for nine shots.
It is the first time since February 22, 2018 against Abilene Christian that the Islanders failed to net a three-pointer, after they went 0-for-9 against the Wildcats seven seasons ago. It comes right after the team sank 10 threes in their previous contest against Prairie View, proving tonight to not be indicative of the team's range shooting.
It is also the first time this season that the Islanders scored under 70 points and just second time to score under 80 points, as the team came in averaging 86.1 per game. It is just the fifth loss for the program in the last four seasons that came despite holding their opposition to under 70 points (48-5 record).
Clark came away in double figures once again despite sitting out the majority of the first half due to foul trouble. He led the team with 14 points, having now scored 10+ in every game this season. Extending from last season, he has scored 10+ points in his last 15 games played.
It marks A&M-Corpus Christi's first home loss of the season, snapping a four-game winning streak all on their home court. It is their first loss to Lamar at home since the 2018-19 season.
The Islanders will close out opening weekend of the conference schedule Saturday against SFA at 3:30 p.m. in the Dugan Wellness Center.
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