STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team saw the 2023-24 season come to an end Tuesday night as it fell 73-63 to Abilene Christian in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, presented by BSN SPORTS, in the Lou Henson Classic hosted by Tarleton State.
It unfortunately ended on a cold night of shooting for the Islanders (21-12) with their 31.8 percent clip unable to hold up against Abilene Christian's (16-17) 50.9 mark as everything seemed to fall for the Wildcats. It wasn't without a strong defensive effort as the Islanders outrebounded ACU 44-38 and grabbed 10 steals compared to only giving up five.
Four Islanders finished the season on a double figure scoring performance, with junior
Jordan Roberts leading all scorers with 22 points which came off his career-high 10 made field goals. Sophomore
Owen Dease ended the night with a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double while sophomore
Kam Parker turned in his career-high 12 points. Junior
Garry Clark, an SLC All-Conference First-Team selection, recorded 11 points, eight rebounds, and both of A&M-Corpus Christi's blocks.
Roberts began his attack early with the first-possession three-pointer. He kept the Islanders out front early with the inside shot while Clark slammed it down on the fastbreak for a 7-4 lead. Though, ACU heated up from beyond-the-arc and nailed three long-range shots to propel ahead 18-8 by 10:29 on the clock.
Back-to-back takeaways had the Islanders score in transition to chip back in within two possessions but another dreading three from the Wildcats pushed them back up by nine. A 7-0 run came in response from A&M-Corpus Christi as Roberts, Clark, and senior
Lance-Amir Paul all got inside the paint for some shots to make it a 21-19 game. The three by Dease got the Islanders back in front 25-23 at 6:12 and a back-and-forth affair ensued with the Wildcats ending with the edge at half.
ACU came out of the half striking first but the Islanders posted another unanswered seven points as Clark's free throw put them on top 40-38. The Wildcats scored four in response before Dease tied it at 42-all with the putback at 14:29. The Islanders would battle within striking distance for the four minutes before the Wildcats refused to miss to build upon a lead.
The Islanders still have a lot of good to reflect on, as head coach
Jim Shaw completes his first year at the helm. He guided A&M-Corpus Christi to its third straight 20+ win season, as the 21 wins in the regular season were the most-ever under a first-year head coach. It ranked him second among all rookie NCAA Division I coaches this year behind Alan Huss of High Point (24).
It has helped him become a finalist for the 2024 Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year Award, an honor that is presented annually to the top rookie, first-year head coach in Division I college basketball.
It marked A&M-Corpus Christi's eighth total postseason appearance, third in a row, and fifth in the CIT. The three straight postseasons are the most in a row since 2013-17 when the Islanders extended their seasons for four straight years.
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