COMMERCE – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders took a low-scoring 61-50 affair over the East Texas A&M University men's basketball team at the Hunt Regional Healthcare Court in the Field House on Monday night.
 
The Islanders picked up their fifth consecutive win over the Lions and are now 9-8 overall this season as well as 5-3 in Southland Conference play. The Lions fall to 7-11 overall and 2-6 in conference play.
 
In the early stretches of the game, the Islanders went up 6-2 at the 18:33 mark. The Lions then went on a 9-0 run to take a five-point lead with 15:26 mark of the first half. A stretch without a field goal for over five minutes, allowed the Islanders to trim the deficit and build a 17-12 lead as part of an 11-1 run. A&M-Corpus Christi did not trail again from that point in the game.
 
Scoring four points in a row, the Islanders jumped ahead 25-16 with 6:45 left in the half, their largest lead of the game until the final minute. The Lions scored seven of the final nine points of the half to trim the deficit down to 33-29 at the half.
 
A string of three points in a row got the Lions within two at the 15:45 mark and had another attempt at the line to trim the deficit the lead, which came up short. After grabbing the defensive rebound, the Islanders hit a three-pointer on the other end to push their lead back up to five.
 
Despite a scoring drought of over five minutes by the Islanders, the Lions could not cut the deficit down further than three, as they had a stretch of four minutes without a made field goal. The Islanders outscored the Lions 18-10 in the final 10 minutes of the game.
 
For the Lions, Ronnie Harrison (Forney) led the way with 12 points as well as seven rebounds, while Noah Pagotto (Wollongong, Australia) tallied 11 points and team-best nine rebounds. Gianni Hunt (Lakewood, Calif.) added nine points.
 
The Lions shot 1 for 20 from distance in the game and went 13 for 22 at the line. The Islanders shot just 3 for 14 from deep and missed eight of their 24 free throw attempts.
 
Nicholas Shogbonyo scored 16 points to lead the Islanders.
 

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The Lions begin a string of four straight games away from home on Saturday at HCU. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m.