CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Texas A&M–Corpus Christi men's basketball team opened the final stretch of nonconference play in emphatic fashion Friday night, rolling past Dallas Christian 108–55 at the Dugan Wellness Center for its third home win of the season and the first of two remaining nonconference games.
The Islanders (4–5) never trailed on the night, shooting over 60 percent (60.3) from the field and having the bench contribute 63 points for a team-effort win. They outscored the Crusaders 60–18 in the paint and held Dallas Christian to just a 26.9 percent shooting.
A&M-Corpus Christi also attacked around the arc, sinking a season-high 11 threes tonight off 40.7 percent shooting. A big contributor to that was junior
Daniel Michelini-Jackson who netted four from long-range for a team-high 22 points.
The Islanders set the tone immediately, racing out to a 15–0 lead in the opening minutes.
Jaden Haire scored the Islanders' first five points, and
Mason Gibson knocked down a corner three off an offensive rebound for the early burst.
The Islanders extended the run to 15–0 on a
Daniel Michelini-Jackson three at the 14:59 mark. The Crusaders got on the board at the free-throw line, but A&M–Corpus Christi continued to push the pace and locking down on the defensive end, yielding just one field goal over 10 minutes in. The lead ballooned to 40–12 following a pair of alley-oop finishes by Haire, and the Islanders closed the half with a commanding 55–25 lead at the break.
The second half followed a similar script as Haire opened the period with a steal and two fast-break buckets to push the margin beyond 30, and Nicholas Shogbonyo added a transition layup off another turnover to make it 64–30. The Islanders continued to stretch the lead as Michelini-Jackson and
Cedric Horton synced up to bury triples on three consecutive possessions.
The fastbreak dunk from
Franck Yetna got the Islanders to the century mark and a 100-47 lead with 5:26 remaining. Yetna followed his throwdown with a shot from beyond the arc next to initiate another series of threes as Trent Pane sank one off the turnover as the Islanders finished with the +53 margin.
Michelini-Jackson led the whole game with 22 points, five assists, seven rebounds, and two blocks. Haire finished with 19 points on 9-of-9 shooting in just 14 minutes, while Yetna chipped in nine points and five boards.
The Islanders have now won 13 consecutive regular season nonconference games dating back to 2023-24 where the only nonconference loss at home was against UTRGV, the season before the Vaqueros joined the league.
The Islanders improve to 31-2 at home overall since head coach
Jim Shaw took over ahead of the 2023-24 season. Since he's been on staff (2021-22), the Islanders are 53-8 on their home court as well as 30-0 overall when holding an opponent to under 60 points.
A&M–Corpus Christi will conclude nonconference play next Saturday before turning its full attention to conference action, however, they will get another taste of the SLC slate before than Wednesday at SFA.
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