CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi didn't see a deficit tonight, leading UIW from start to finish to produce a 69-55 victory Saturday at the American Bank Center.
The Islanders (16-11, 9-6 SLC) got back in the win column after a challenging road swing last weekend and did so by never trailing the Cardinals (12-14, 5-10 SLC) in their first game back home in two weeks.
The defense halted UIW to just 19 points in the first half as the halftime margin of +14 held through to the end. Majorly contributing to A&M-Corpus Christi's success was their ball control, taking care of the ball to only turn it over five times through 40 minutes of play while forcing 12 UIW turnovers. They also assisted on 15 of their 27 made field goals.
Offensively, the Islanders got back to shooting above 40.0 percent from the field for the first time in nearly two weeks, going 27-of-59 (45.8) tonight.
Redshirt junior
Owen Dease got things started with the early jumper before junior
Leo Torbor upped the quick start to 4-0 after getting up for the flush on his own takeaway. After UIW got by for a three-ball, the Islanders responded with a 9-0 run to handedly lead it 12-3 at 13:51.
Freshman
Damarion Dennis went deep for three at 10:29 to make it a 17-6 game before the defensive game ramped up to keep scoring to a minimal the next three minutes. Senior
Jordan Roberts grabbed the loose ball, and senior
Garry Clark capped the play with the inside shot to get back going for a 20-7 lead and Dease nailed the shot beyond the arc at 3:32 to maintain a 25-15 advantage. The fastbreak dunk by redshirt senior
Jaden Walker stamped the 33-19 halftime score as the teams headed to intermission.
UIW fired five quick points out of the break to force an Islanders timeout early in the latter half which lighted them up for a 5-0 run themselves before answering with authority courtesy of back-to-back dunks from Clark for a 42-26 lead at 17:05.
Torbor extended off Clark's two slams with the putback at 16:19 and a pair of free throws on the next offensive possession to feature a 20-point lead. While the Cardinals wouldn't allow a greater margin from there, the Islanders would continue down the stretch with a double-digit advantage to ultimately end on top 69-55.
Clark got back to his typical ways of scoring double digits, coming away as the team's leading scorer at 15 points. He has scored 10+ points in all but one contest this year.
Joining him in double figures were Dease (13) and Torbor (10). It marks Dease's second straight game producing over 10 points after he matched his career-high of 20 in the last game. It is Torbor's first double figure scoring game of the year, doing so in his first home game back from injury since the nonconference finale back in December.
The Islanders will now rematch HCU Monday at 7 p.m. back at the American Bank Center, seeking revenge on an earlier loss to the Huskies this season in Houston back in January.
#ShakasUp
