CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Texas A&M–Corpus Christi men's basketball team closed its nonconference schedule in emphatic fashion Saturday night, overwhelming Southwestern Adventist 93–36 at the Dugan Wellness Center for its fourth home win of the season.
The Islanders (5–6) set the tone early and never let up, forcing a season-high 22 turnovers off another season best of 15 steals, dominating the glass for a 61-26 rebounding advantage, and emptying the bench while building a 33-point halftime cushion. A&M–Corpus Christi shot 48.1 percent from the field on the night, hit 11 three-pointers and scored 61 points off the bench in a wire-to-wire victory.
It is the second year in a row the Islanders held an opponent to as little as 36 points after holding Dallas Christian to that number during last season. Before then, the Islanders hadn't held an opponent to under 40 points since 2020-21 when they kept Paul Quinn to just 35 points on Dec. 22, 2020.
The 61 rebounds were two shy of the program's single-game record, set at 63 against Prairie View way back on Nov. 20, 2000. The +35 rebounding margin was also short of that record, which was set in last season's meeting with the Knights (49-13).
Southwestern Adventist briefly struck first at the line, but the Islanders answered immediately and surged ahead behind early pressure defense.
Leo Torbor ignited the run with a back-to-back sinkers from three, and
Sheldon Williams and
Jaden Haire followed with finishes at the rim as A&M–Corpus Christi raced to a building lead in the opening minutes.
The Islanders' advantage ballooned midway through the first half. Another set of triples this time courtesy of
Cedric Horton and Nicholas Shogbonyo had the Islanders ripping off a 13–0 stretch as Torbor's third long-range shot pushed the margin past 20. A late flurry capped by a second-chance alley-oop to
Kobi Pearson sent A&M–Corpus Christi into the break up 48–15.
The lead grew out of the half, as Shogbonyo drilled another three and Torbor finished a steal with a dunk to extend the lead 55-19. The Islanders continued to rotate freely, scoring inside and out while holding Southwestern Adventist to just 21 second-half points.
Franck Yetna blossomed in last 20 minutes, scoring all of his 11 points while grabbing six of his nine final rebounds. He additionally added three assists and three steals all within 18 minutes on the court. Torbor added 13 points, four steals and three assists, while Shogbonyo finished with nine points and three assists. Haire chipped in nine points and five rebounds off the bench, and
Cedric Horton scored seven points with four assists. Williams anchored the interior with six points and 10 rebounds.
The Islanders have won 14 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 are 32-2 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 54-8 on their home court.
After the holidays, the Islanders open conference play Dec. 29 against Nicholls at the Hilliard Center hoping to ride momentum from their final nonconference tune-up.
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