BEAUMONT, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team wrapped up an unkind road swing that spanned two weekends with another cold night of shooting, dropping 67-56 at Lamar Monday night in the Montagne Center.
The Islanders (15-11, 8-6 SLC), for the second straight game, saw a shooting performance that fell below 40.0 percent efficiency with just a 36.4 percent mark tonight that didn't match up with Lamar's (15-10, 10-4 SLC) 46.0 percent clip.
Prior to this weekend, the Islanders led the league and were ranked third in the NCAA in total field goal percentage (.501) and had not eclipsed 40.0 percent just three previous times this whole year.
The lopsided shooting also gave Lamar an advantage on the defensive board where they outrebounded the Islanders 27-19. Offensively, the Cardinals were also better adept at converting second chances for 14 points compared to A&M-Corpus Christi's four.
Finding an early tempo, junior
Kam Parker sank a three and was met with the takeaway score by senior
Jordan Roberts who drove it in himself for a 5-2 jump. Redshirt junior
Owen Dease extended it by three with his next shot then redshirt junior
Stephen Giwa got up for the flush to keep the Islanders up 10-6.
However, Lamar found their own rhythm on the perimeter where they made four consecutive shots for a 20-12 lead reversal. Another sequence of a Roberts driving lay-in followed by the long-range shot from Dease got the Islanders back within four with 7:47 left in the half. Freshman
Isaac Williams laid it in to chip it down to a one-possession game, but the Cardinals responded with another three-ball to lead it 31-26 at the break.
The Islanders kept it within that two-possession reach until a potential breakthrough opportunity came at 11:57 in the second half that had senior
Garry Clark finally score his points of the night with the inside shot to get cut in 39-36. Clark on the takeaway then dished it to junior
Leo Torbor on the fastbreak to make it just a one-point game but Lamar would refuse a reversal or even a tie as back-to-back buckets got it back up to a six-point contest.
Freshman
Damarion Dennis took his shot at an attempt to cut the deficit back down with the pull up three-pointer to make it a 44-41 game with 9:37 to go. Though, Lamar skyrocketed back up to a double digit lead and didn't allow the Islanders to get within seven points from then on to end on top.
Dease felt like the lone play maker for the Islanders, coming away with 20 points with the help three threes while no other Islander could break double figures. It matches his season-high which he set in the first game of the season at #14 Purdue.
Unfortunately for Clark, tonight also snapped his 32-game streak of scoring 10+ points as he could only get past for five. It is the first time since Feb. 19, 2024, that Clark didn't score at least 10 points in a game when he scored just nine against Northwestern State. His streak had been the longest active streak in the NCAA.
After a two-week long stretch away from home, the Islanders will finally return to Corpus Christi to host UIW Saturday and HCU next Monday back at the American Bank Center.
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