Sam Houston State knocks off first place Islanders
2/3/2007 1:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
FROM THE HUNTSVILLE ITEM
BY CODY STARK
CORPUS CHRISTI -- Aaron Wade scored 19 points and Ryan Bright added 18 points as Sam Houston State came from six points down at halftime to defeat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 84-79 at the American Bank Center Saturday night.
Sam Houston State had to play its best offensive game of the season to counter an oversized Texas A&M-Corpus Christi squad Saturday night at the American Bank Center.
Facing a team which is nearly impossible to stop in the paint, the Bearkats needed to knock down their outside shots to put pressure on the Islanders. That's exactly what happened, as SHSU shot a staggering 46 percent from 3-point range and tightened up their post defense in the second half in an 84-79 victory.
SHSU senior Aaron Wade scored a team-high 19 points and Ryan Bright added 12 of his 18 in the second half to help the Bearkats hand TAMU-CC its first Southland Conference loss and end the Islanders' 10-game winning streak. Jejuan Plair chipped in 15 points and C.J. Hadley finished the night with 12.
With the victory, SHSU improved to 7-2 in SLC action and 15-7 overall, while the Islanders dropped to 8-1 and 16-5.
“This was a game that we felt like we needed. It was going to help us confidence-wise,” Plair said. “We came in with a demeanor like that. We weren't in a panic but more in an urgency that we needed to get this done. Out here on the road we knew it was going to be tough and we needed to shoot the ball well. We did and it is a big win for us.”
The Islanders used the inside presence of 7-foot, 265-pound center Chris Daniels to take a 46-40 lead into halftime. Daniels was almost unstoppable in the first half, scoring 17 points on 7-of-7 shooting.
Following intermission, the Bearkats did a better job containing Daniels, who scored a game-high 22 points, and the rest of the Corpus post players. The Islanders only scored 10 points in the paint after the break (22 in the first) and shot a dismal 28 percent from the field. They also had 21 turnovers and gave up 12 steals in the contest.
SHSU, on the other hand, hit 54 percent of its shots and attacked the basket to score 18 points in the paint in the second half.
The Kats stole the momentum by going on a 10-0 run after halftime. Plair and Shamir McDaniel sparked that spurt with back-to-back three-point plays. Bright followed with an easy basket off an offensive rebound, and Plair capped it with a steal and a layup to go up 50-46.
SHSU never trailed again.
“We had really good defensive intensity in the second half,” SHSU head coach Bob Marlin said. “We opened the half with a couple of missed shots, but we didn't give anything up on the other end. We had a couple of momentum-changing plays. C.J. got hot, we attacked the press and got some baskets and we changed up defenses to slow the game down.
“When we had an opportunity to make plays, we did. We executed and got the ball in the basket, and as a coach, that is satisfying.”
The Islanders fought back to tie it at 50 with just under 14 minutes left in the game, but Hadley led a 9-0 run by scoring seven points over the next to minutes to to push the Kats' lead to nine.
Corpus later went on another rally to cut it to 64-61 at the 8:48 mark. Hadley again answered with a 3 and Bright dropped in back-to-back shots underneath to give the Kats their biggest advantage of the night at 72-61.
Each time the Islanders tried to close the gap down the stretch, the Bearkats responded, never letting TAMU-CC get closer than five.
It was a total team effort by SHSU, with 10 players finding the bottom of the net.
McDaniel finished with eight points, while Jeremy Thomas and Ryan Griffin each had three. Plair, McDaniel and James Barrett each had four assists in the victory.
“We just picked up the intensity and hustled the whole game like we always do,” Bright said. “We were all over the place, especially in the second half. Every time I looked up someone was on the floor, diving for a ball.”
The Islanders dominated in the paint, but the Bearkats controlled the perimeter in the first half. Corpus Christi outscored Sam Houston 22-10 down low to take a 46-40 advantage into the break.
The Kats countered by going 7-of-14, or 50 percent from behind the arc to lead for most of the period. Wade hit a 3 from the top of the key on a kick out by Bright to put SHSU up 18-11 with 13:31 left in the half. The Islanders stormed back to tie it at 20 thanks to a 7-0 run sparked by two layups by Matt Slatnick, one that resulted in a three-point play.
The game remained close over the course of the next six minutes with Wade giving the Bearkats their last lead of the half on a 3 from the right side of the court. TAMU-CC closed out the first with a 12-4 run to take the lead into the break.
Both teams were hot in the first half and each shot 56 percent from the field.
The reason the Islanders held a six-point lead was a 20-10 advantage on the glass, 10-3 on the offensive boards, which helped them outscored the Kats 13-1 in second chance points.
But when it was all said and done, SHSU finished the game shooting 55 percent, and the Islanders 42.
“We told the guys before the game that they were shooting 54 percent and only giving up 39, and we have to shoot better than they do,” Marlin said. “If we outshoot them from the floor, they are 0-3. Three of their four losses had come when they were outshot. At halftime it was 56 to 56, but in the second half, it was much better.”
The Bearkats are back on the road Thursday when they travel to Natchitoches, La., to face the East Division-leading Northwestern State Demons.
