LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team built a 10-point lead at the intermission and took all the momentum from HCU late in the second half to win the opening round of the SLC Tournament 62-48 Sunday at the Legacy Center.
The victory advances the Islanders (20-13) to tomorrow's quarterfinal matchup against No. 4 Northwestern State. The game is set for 5 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Tonight also pushed the Islanders to 20 wins on the year, their ninth 20+ win season in program history and fourth in a row. It is the first time the program has ever posted four consecutive 20-win seasons, doing so every year head coach
Jim Shaw has been on staff.
The Islanders held a huge advantage on the glass against the Huskies, outrebounding them 45-21. They also outshot HCU from the field 47.1 percent to 35.4 percent.
It was an early back-and-forth before the Islanders created some separation with a triage of inside shots to make to make it 14-9. The Huskies tied things up but back-to-back threes from
Dian Wright-Forde and
Damarion Dennis made it 24-18 with 7:53 in the half. The offensive putback by
Garry Clark initiated a sequence down the final minute where
Leo Torbor grabbed the takeaway and laid it in for a 32-24 advantage.
Jaden Walker then finished at the rim before break for the 10-point lead.
Picking up where he left off, Walker started the second half with another quick lay-in before HCU strung together a run to cut it to a two-possession game. Consecutive buckets from Clark recreated a double digit lead but the Huskies would fight back within two field goals with 6:09 to go. Wright-Forde would go deep again for a 51-42 lead, and the momentum was stolen completely by the Islanders as Walker slammed home the win with a fastbreak hammer to fuel the 62-48 final score.
Clark was tabbed player of the game, turning in a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double. His 22 points matches his season-high and is his third 20+ point performance this year. However, he has scored at least 10 points in 32 of the 33 games played this season.
Walker also ended the night with a double-double with 10 points and rebounds. It is the second time this year that the Islanders had two players come away with a double-double in the same game.
Wright-Forde additionally put up double figure scoring, coming off the bench to contribute 13 points after going 3-of-4 from long-range.
The winner of tomorrow's quarterfinal will advance to face No. 1 McNeese in the first semifinal on Wednesday at 6 p.m., which will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
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