NEW ORLEANS, La. – Another hot night of shooting for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team sent them over New Orleans 97-83 Monday night in the Lake Front Arena to round out an undefeated trip in Louisiana.
The Islanders (10-6, 3-1 SLC) attacked on all cylinders against New Orleans (2-13, 0-4 SLC), outscoring the Privateers 52-26 in the paint while also shooting 46.7 percent (7-for-15) from long-range. It closed out a 2-0 conference weekend for the Islanders, who most recently took down Southeastern on Saturday.
It is the 10
th time this year that the Islanders shot above 50.0 percent from the field, shooting a consistent 58.7 percent tonight. Entering the game, only one other team in the NCAA has shot 50.0+ percent from the field in 10 games this season (St. Thomas). The Islanders improve to 33-1 (10-0 SLC) over the last four seasons when doing so.
The shooting mark will also improve A&M-Corpus Christi's season average, which had them ranked eighth nationally entering tonight (.508).
Additionally fueling the spread offense was 23 assists being made on the 37 made field goals. It is the sixth time this year the Islanders had 20+ assists in a game.
The Islanders comfortably started out with a 10-6 cushion after senior
Garry Clark went coast to coast to force an early New Orleans timeout. It worked in their favor, however, as the home squad came out to take a lead through a 21-18 score. Senior
Jordan Roberts shut it down, however, tying the ball game up with the long-range shot right after.
Junior
Kam Parker then got in on the fun and pulled the double card by sinking a pair of threes to push the Islanders back ahead 29-23. After building momentum up to a 37-29 lead off the fastbreak lay-in from senior
Dian Wright-Forde, the Islanders hit a lull that allowed the Privateers to bite back with an unanswered eight points to be in front once more.
Freshman
Isaac Williams broke the drought with the pull up three and sparked his own scoring run of eight points that New Orleans couldn't counter. Fellow freshman
Damarion Dennis drove in a pair of baskets to follow and A&M-Corpus Christi held the 49-44 lead at the half.
Dennis, Dease, and Roberts came out of the break and took turns firing from beyond the arc to see that lead grow to 61-54 at 16:12. Junior
Sheldon Williams got inside for the putback at 13:31 as the Islanders flirted with a double figure lead at 68-59 before Dennis would push them past it after a trip to the line after getting fouled on the steal.
The Privateers would cut into the lead but never get closer than nine points to the Islanders from there, as the dunk by Dease solidified a +10-margin the rest of the way at 7:00.
Six different Islanders ended in double figures, happening for the third time this year when it hadn't been done at all since the 2017-2018 season. Clark, Williams, and Roberts all scored 14 points while Dease and Dennis each put up 13. Wright-Forde rounded out the squad at 11 points.
Clark is now on a 23-game streak of scoring 10+ points, dating back to last season. He is tied with Treysen Eaglestaff of North Dakota for longest active streak in the NCAA.
The Islanders will now make their return to the American Bank Center for their next pair of conference matchups, hosting UTRGV Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and Northwestern State next Monday at 7 p.m.
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