CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Doubling a 10-point lead at the half in the second frame, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team took down SFA on both ends of the court for a 67-48 victory Saturday in the Dugan Wellness Center.
It was a physical game from start to finish, with the Islanders (6-4, 1-1 SLC) coming out on top for their first SLC win of the year while denying the Lumberjacks (5-5, 0-2 SLC) from reaching 50 points on the day. The defense forced 17 SFA turnovers including 10 off steals and outrebounded them on the defensive glass 25-21.
Offensively, A&M-Corpus Christi flirted with 50.0 percent shooting, going 26-of-53 (49.1 percent) from the field. It was fueled from a 61.9 percent (13-21) second half that helped spur a 22-point advantage that nearly stuck to the final buzzer.
The Islanders are 22-0 over the last four seasons when holding their opponent to under 60 points. It is the third time they've done it this year, but second to hold their opposition to under 50. It is the first time the Islanders have held a conference opponent to under 50 points since January 25, 2020 when they halted UIW to just 47.
The first half ended on an unanswered 12 points from the Islanders, shutting out SFA for the last five minutes before break. Freshman
Damarion Dennis came off the bench and accounted for seven of those, starting with the putback at 4:34 to tie it at 22-all. He went deep at 3:26 to put the Islanders ahead for just their second lead of the game but this time it would stick as he pushed them further with the driving layup to make it 27-22.
Redshirt junior
Owen Dease took a trip to the free throw line for a pair, while senior
Garry Clark drew the and-one before the half to make it a 32-22 game.
Extending that scoring run to 16, the Islanders came out of the break not slowed with back-to-back lay-ins from redshirt junior
Stephen Giwa and senior
Jordan Roberts.
Dease would create a 20+ point margin with the long-range shot followed by an inside jumper at 14:54 for the 45-25 advantage. That lead never dwindled below 16 points from there, as the Islanders ran away with the final victory.
Clark led both teams in scoring and rebounding with the 15-point, 12-rebound double-double. It is his first double-double of the season, finally getting the boards as he has scored 10+ points in every game this year. Extending from last season, he is on a 16-game streak of scoring in double figures.
Joining him in double digits were four-year players for the Islanders who are no stranger to the Southland Conference, Dease and Roberts. They each came away with 10 points with Dease shooting 100 percent across the board, going 3-for-3 from the field including 2-for-2 from long-range and making both his free throws.
It was the first meeting between the programs since the 2020-21 season with the Lumberjacks returning to the Southland Conference this season. The Islanders notched their first win over SFA since the 2019-20 season and first win at home over the Lumberjacks since 2014-15.
The Islanders will now go on a hiatus from SLC play due to the league's new schedule this year, finishing out December with a few nonconference matches before returning to the slate in January. Their next stop is at Hawaii on December 14.
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