LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team kept trying to chip away at McNeese, but the Cowboys held on to win 74-67 Saturday at the Legacy Center.
The Islanders (14-9, 7-3 SLC) took a 15-point deficit down to just six, but McNeese (21-3, 10-1 SLC) would always keep an arm's length distance down the stretch as A&M-Corpus Christi's rally came up short. Similar to the first meeting of the season, the game seemed to come down to free throws as the Cowboys made up the seven-point difference from the stripe.
It was a grueling defensive battle as the teams amassed over 50 fouls between them and held each other to just three long-range shots. They were near even in paint points, points off turnovers, and second chance points.
Despite facing early foul trouble, junior
Garry Clark led all scorers with 16 points and neared the double-double with nine rebounds. Redshirt senior
Dayne Prime trailed with 15 points as the two combined for 12 of the team's 23 made field goals. Junior
Dian Wright-Forde joined them in double figures with 12 points.
Graduate
Marion Humphrey, who entered the game leading the league in assist/turnover ratio, recorded four assists as well as five steals in addition to his eight points after playing a team-long 28 minutes.
Humphrey grabbed the steal and drove to the rim for the first points of the game before the teams entered into the heart of the defensive intensity. Clark hit the jumper at 17:25 for the 4-1 lead as the Islanders held McNeese scoreless from the field until the clock read 15:33. The Cowboys used it to pull ahead 9-4 but the score in transition at 11:01 from Prim tied things up at 9.
The teams continued to battle it out on the defensive end as free throws got the score to 13-12 with McNeese on top. Humphrey drove in for the and-one to even it at 15 but redshirt sophomore
Owen Dease had to keep the Islanders within a possession at 21-18 after a tough jumper.
McNeese created some separation from there and jumped out 30-19, but Humphrey netted the contested shot in the paint as the clock ran out, sending the game to the half with a 30-21 score hoping to get A&M-Corpus Christi the momentum they needed.
Junior
Tedrick Washington Jr. nailed the first three-pointer of the game at 19:01 in the second. Redshirt
Stephen Giwa went back up after the offensive board to get the Islanders within 32-26 before Prim went deep and made it a 35-31 game at 16:43.
McNeese pulled back ahead by as much as 15 points after cutting into the Islander momentum, but another putback by Prim had the Islanders down 54-44 at the under-eight media timeout. Wright-Forde then initiated a slight run after the one-handed slam dunk following the takeaway by Humphrey.
Wright-Forde then bucketed the driving shot on the fastbreak in the next possession as the Islanders got it down to a 56-48 game with 5:15 to go. McNeese wouldn't relent and got back to a 12-point lead before Prim drew the and-one at 2:37 to get the Islanders within 63-56. Again, the Cowboys wouldn't let the Islanders run with momentum for long and despite Prim trying to extend A&M-Corpus Christi's rally within two possessions, McNeese closed out the win.
The Islanders will now head to take on Nicholls on Monday at 6:30 p.m. The teams entered today tied for second in the SLC standings.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi still holds a 19-7 lead over McNeese in the all-time series and 6-5 on the road. The Islanders have won 16 of the last 18 meetings with McNeese dating back to 2012- 13.
- The Islanders entered the game leading the league in 3FG% defense, holding their opponents to a .303 average beyond-the-arc. They held the Cowboys to just a .200 clip from long-range.
- Clark turned in his 14
th double figure scoring game of the year, second in the last three games, and seventh in conference play. He has recorded either 10+ points or rebounds in eight of the 10 SLC games this year.
- Prim submitted his sixth double digit scoring game of the year, fourth in a row, and fifth in conference play this year. He has come off the bench in every 10+ game in SLC play, helping the Islanders ranked #2 overall in the NCAA in bench points per game.
- Wright-Forde recorded his 11
th double figure scoring game of the year and fifth against Southland opponents.
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