BEAUMONT, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team shot well on all cylinders to overtake Lamar 75-61 Saturday night in Neches Arena to begin its last road trip of the regular season.
The Islanders (17-10, 10-4 SLC) turned in a .500 shooting night from the field and matched that from the three-point arc for the team's highest three-point shooting of the season. It is the first time this year that A&M-Corpus Christi shot at least 50 percent from long-range, and first since they shot 57.9 last year on Jan. 28 against McNeese.
In addition, A&M-Corpus Christi ended with an .800 shooting clip from the charity strip after bucketing 16 of its 20 free throws. Defensively, the Islanders locked down the Cardinals (15-12, 9-5 SLC) for a mere 11.8 percent three-point percentage.
The Islanders put up 44 points in the first half alone, aiding in a 20-point advantage at the break. Junior
Jordan Roberts led all scorers with 17 points after sinking a pair of threes and going a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Junior
Garry Clark closely trailed behind with 16 points after shooting 7-of-8 from the floor. Junior
Dian Wright-Forde also ended in double figures for the Islanders with 12.
Clark kickstarted the Islanders offense after scoring their first six points of the game himself. Lamar fought tough early and maintained a 7-6 edge at 15:01 but redshirt senior
Dayne Prim remedied that with the long-range goal for the final go-ahead points of the game as the Islanders were just ramping up.
Junior
Tedrick Washington Jr. went coast-to-coast for the fastbreak and 17-11 lead at 11:53. Sophomore
Stephen Giwa went back up for the putback at 9:55 before an unforced Lamar turnover led to the three-ball from Roberts as the Islanders extended their attack by 22-15. Though, it was the final five minutes where the Islanders unleashed for a 12-0 scoring run as Wright-Forde went deep twice to up it to 37-21.
Giwa got inside for the lay-in with 2:39 to go before a steal and two-handed flush from him helped the Islanders to a 20-point cushion at the half.
Without missing a beat, Clark got things started once more in the second half with the first-possession field goal. The driving pass from Roberts set up Giwa who got up once more for the slam dunk at 17:52 for a 48-27 lead. A pair of steals on back-to-back possessions led to Washington converting on the fastbreak as the Islanders went up 54-22 comfortably.
Lamar strung together a slight rally to gnaw back within 11, but it was the most A&M-Corpus Christi would relent as Roberts pushed the Islanders back ahead 73-57 off the and-one with 1:07 remaining.
The win helped the Islanders sweep the Cardinals on the year while simultaneously knocking them out of the second-place tie in the SLC standings, as A&M-Corpus Christi is now only locked with Nicholls for the No. 2 seed with four games remaining on the schedule.
The Islanders will conclude their final road trip of the regular season against HCU Monday night at 7 p.m.
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