KATY, Texas – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi knew its best path to Saturday’s Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament championship game hinged on stopping Nicholls and Conference Player of the Year Ty Gordon.
Thanks to an aggressive defense —and the shooting of Simeon Fryer — the Islanders’ path remains clear.
Fryer scored 20 points as fourth-seed A&M-Corpus Christi held on to defeat top-seeded Nicholls 71-64 at the Leonard E. Merrell Center on Friday, putting the Islanders in Saturday’s title game, where they will play the winners of Southeastern and New Orleans at 8:30 p.m. CT.
Gordon, who came in Friday with seven-straight games with at least 20 points, finished with just 14 on 5-of-16 shooting and shot 2-for-10 from three-point range.
“Heck of a college basketball game,” said Islanders head coach Steve Lutz, whose team defeated Nicholls (21-11) for the first time in four meetings this season. “I’m really proud of the guys.”
The Islanders held the Colonels to a paltry 36 percent from the field, but it was its ability to contain Nicholls’ long-range game, limiting them to just 6-for-30 from beyond the arc. The missed shots turned into rebounds for A&M-Corpus Christi, which won the glass by a 40-28 margin.
“We talked about going into the game that we needed to be least plus-10 on the glass, and at the end of the night, we were plus-12,” said Lutz. “At the end of the day, that was the deciding factor.”
Despite the early shooting woes (32 percent from the field), the Colonels trailed just 22-18 at the 8:00 mark of the half, but a dunk from Stephen Faramade and a three-pointer from Tennyson was followed by a short jumper from Faramade that gave A&M-Corpus Christi a 29-18 cushion with 6:47 before the break.
Another Faramade slam and a trey from Fryer only added to the Islanders’ edge as they built a 34-20 foundation, capping off what was eventually a 14-2 run before Latrell Jones’ three-pointer finally put the brakes on A&M-Corpus Christi’s surge.
Jones’ triple seemed to ignite the Colonels, especially on the defensive end where they kept the Islanders scoreless for more than three minutes while also slowing trimming the deficit to 34-27 before a Faramade basket got A&M-Corpus Christi back on the scoreboard.
The Colonels remained stuck as they went through a 1-for-7 stretch that saw them go scoreless over the last 2:36 before intermission, putting them in a 38-27 deficit as the teams departed into their respective locker rooms.
“They were more locked in and detailed in what they did,” said Gordon of the Islanders’ defense. “I feel like they had a bigger purpose today. It was just a ‘want-to’ thing.”
Things finally began to shine for Nicholls’ long-range attack early in the second half. Pierce Spencer knocked down his first triple of the game before Gordon finally recorded his first basket of the evening with a three-pointer that put the Colonels within 46-38 with 15:10 remaining. He followed that with a pair of layups that kept Nicholls in shouting distance of A&M-Corpus Christi going into the final 13 minutes of play.
Down 54-44, the Colonels clawed back as a steal and layup from All-Conference second-teamer Devante Carter helped push Nicholls to 54-48. The Islanders used free throws to keep Nicholls at bay during a stretch in which A&M-Corpus Christi went more than four minutes without a field goal, missing five straight shots.
The margin drew to 58-52 when Jones came off the wing and hammered a dunk. Gordon followed with a three-pointer, and when Manny Littles converted a miss from Carter, Nicholls found itself down just 59-57 with 6:39 left.
Fryer then made perhaps the game’s most pivotal play on the next possession. With his team on the verge of being overtaken, Fryer banked home a three-pointer that made it 62-57 with 5:40 left. Terrion Murdix, who was selected to the Conference’s All-Defensive team, then added a trey that finally gave the Islanders breathing space down the stretch.
“They just seemed to have better rhythm than we did. It wasn’t our night,” said Nicholls head coach Austin Claunch. “We’re obviously very disappointed, but it doesn’t take away that these guys are back-to-back champs.”
{Courtesy: Southland Conference}
