COMMERCE – An 21-6 early lead on Monday night helped the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders down the East Texas A&M University men's basketball team by a score of 78-66 at the Hunt Regional Healthcare Court in the Field House.
 
The Islanders scored 14 of the first 16 points of the game, forcing six Lion turnovers in the first eight minutes and scoring seven points off those turnovers. East Texas A&M shot 3 for 9 to start the game, while A&M-Corpus Christi made nine of its first 12 shots. 
 
Despite the Lions leading by as much 19 in the first half, the Lions held the Islanders scoreless for over two minutes on a 6-0 run, but the Islanders scored on two possessions in a row and then held the Lions without a point for over three minutes, while taking a 21-point lead on an 8-0 run.
 
The Lions scored 10 of the final 12 points to cut the Islanders' lead down to 41-27 at halftime. At the half, the Lions shot 45.8 percent, but the Islanders shot 66.7 percent. The Islanders scored 28 points in the paint, while the Lions scored just 14 points in the paint in the first half. 
 
Coming out of halftime, the Islanders were held to one point through the first 2:10 of the half, while the Lions hit back-to-back three-pointers to get the deficit into single digits and force an early timeout by the Islanders. Following the timeout, the Islanders went on a 11-1 run to increase their lead back up to 19.
 
The Islanders' largest lead in the game was 22 points and it came with 5:59 left in the game. The loss drops the Lions to 3-20 on the season and 1-11 in Southland Conference play, while the Islanders are now 15-9 overall and 8-4 in conference play.
 
Chris Adlam (Houston Christian) came off the bench and finished the game with 22 points, shooting 7 for 9 from the field and 4 for 4 from deep, while Josh Taylor (Atlanta, Ga.) had team-best five rebounds.
 
For the Islanders, Isaac Williams scored 12, followed by 11 from Garry Clark and 10 from Kam Parker. The Lions finished the game shooting 45.8 percent and made 10 three-pointers, while the Islanders shot 58.8 percent from the field and had the 26-25 advantage in rebounds.
  
UP NEXT
The Lions are back on the road next week, playing at Nicholls on Saturday at 3 p.m. and at McNeese next Monday at 6 p.m.