CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team flipped a halftime deficit with a decisive second-half performance Saturday night, controlling the pace to defeat Northwestern State 71-59 in Southland Conference play at the Hilliard Center.
The Islanders controlled the game's final 20 minutes, outscoring the Demons 42-29 after the break while turning stops into transition opportunities and steadily building separation down the stretch. They shot 45 percent from the field and knocked down nine three-pointers while committing just five turnovers to maintain offensive rhythm throughout the second half.
Defensively, the Islanders remain undefeated when holding their opponents to under 60 points with an 8-0 mark this year when doing so, and 35-0 over the last five years including 18-0 in conference play.
The offensive attack was spread, with five Islanders finishing the night in double figures.
Sheldon Williams led the way with 14 points off six made field goals.
Nick Shogbonyo made up 11 points, while the trio of
Daniel Michelini-Jackson,
Franck Yetna, and
D'Avian Houston each tallied 10.
Northwestern State opened the night with early momentum, taking advantage of quick perimeter scoring to move ahead 19-13. The Islanders answered later through the period as back-to-back steals from
Mason Gibson led to points off the turnovers to get them back within 26-25.
A third straight Northwestern State possession saw a turnover with Williams grabbing the steal with Houston finishing in transition to reverse the lead inside the final three minutes, but Northwestern State countered with consecutive scores in the closing minute to take a narrow 30-29 advantage into halftime.
An early second-half sequence shifted momentum as the Islanders opened with a trio of triples within their first seven possessions of the half with Yetna's three-ball at 15:41 pulling them ahead 40-37. The lead grew from there, extending the margin to double digits midway through the half after the putback from Yetna made it 50-39 with just over 12 minutes to play.
The and-one from Williams pulled the Islanders ahead by 20 after he completed the three-point play at 4:05 and although the Demons tried shaving into the deficit with quick shot threes, the Islanders got the stops they needed to halt any real momentum from switching to the visitors and preserved the double-digit cushion for the 71-59 victory.
The Islanders will finish the regular season Monday night back at the Hilliard Center for a finale against East Texas A&M. A win would secure the fifth seed for the conference tournament, with a chance at a four seed depending on other results around the league.
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