CORPUS CHRISTI, TX ? Corey Allmond scored 21 points and Preston Brown added 19 as Sam Houston State hung on for another close Southland Conference men's basketball road victory in a 75-73 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the American Bank Center Saturday afternoon.
Sam Houston State (14-9, SLC 8-2) moved back into a first-place tie with the Islanders in the Southland Conference West Division with the victory.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (14-11, SLC 8-2) was led by Kevin Palmer with 23 points.
The Bearkats led 34-29 at halftime and were up by nine points, 61-52, after a pair of free throws by Josten Crow with 6:57 to play.
But the Islanders stormed back, going on a 16-5 run to go up 68-66 on a dunk by Tim Green with 2:24 remaining.
Brown and Allmond combined for nine points and Crow took a critical charge with 1:07 left as the Bearkats improve never trailed again.
“This felt really good to get this win, especially after that ugly loss to Nicholls State,” Brown said. “Now we are back on top and we have six games to go. We just kept battling. We had some adversity down the stretch, but we found a way to win.”
Allmond led four Sam Houston State players in double figures with 21 points on 4-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Brown recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 boards. Crow had a breakout game offensively, scoring 13 points, while senior Barkley Falkner just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine boards.
The Bearkats led 42-33 when Ashton Mitchell drove the lane for a layup for two of his eight points, but then the turnover bug bit Sam Houston. A&M-Corpus Christi responded with an 8-0 run thanks to sloppy play by the Bearkats.
Islanders guard Kevin Palmer, who scored 23 points, got the rally started with a 3, then Tim Green scored on a tip-in and another trey to make it 42-41 with just over 14 minutes to go.
The game stayed close before Allmond and Crow hit back-to-back 3-pointers seven minutes later to push the lead back to nine at 59-50. But again, the Islanders wouldn't go away.
Palmer, Demond Watt and Justin Reynolds, who added 14 points, led a 9-3 spurt to get A&M-Corpus Christi within three at 62-59. Mitchell pushed the advantage back to six with a reverse layup only to see Palmer convert an old-fashioned three-point play. Green, who finished with 15 points, followed that with a 3 and a tip-in that was rolling around the rim to put the Islanders on top 68-66 for the first time since the 12:51 mark of the opening quarter.
But as they did the previous times, the Bearkats were able to make the plays and spoil the Islanders' final attempt at a comeback.
“We knew it was a big game coming down here,” Crow said. “They were number one in the conference and we were in second. We knew it was going to be a tough game like a heavyweight fight. We kept taking the punches and giving them back. They gave us a good push at the end, but we held strong.”
Things got chippy quick in a very physical first half as the Bearkats and Islanders battled for every loose ball, trying to gain the early advantage. Words were exchanged and bodies hit the floor, but the officials let the teams play.
Sam Houston jumped out to a 5-0 lead when Falkner used a pump fake to get an easy layup and freshman Drae Murray buried a 3-pointer after coming up with an offensive rebound. A&M-Corpus Christi came storming back to go up four at 13-9 thanks to a 7-0 run that featured a long bomb by Horace Bond and a reverse dunk and layup by Palmer at the 12:51 mark.
Allmond put the Kats back on top 19-16 with his first trey of the game four minutes later. Brown, Falkner, Crow and Mitchell all hit shots and Allmond drained two more 3s to help Sam Houston State go into the break up 34-29.
The Bearkats shot 42 percent in the opening period while holding the Islanders to 35 percent. Reynolds and Palmer were the only big problems for Sam Houston State, combining for 18 points in the first half.
A&M-Corpus Christi outrebounded the Bearkats 10-7 on the offensive end, but Sam Houston State took advantage of its second-chance opportunities by outscoring the Islanders 10-4.
“We got the lead in the first half and held it the rest of the game until late,” SHSU head coach Bob Marlin said. “We led by five at the half and wanted to win the second half, but they outscored us by three and took the lead late. But our guys hung tough and fought through adversity. We hit some big baskets, shot 67 percent in the second half and got some stops on defense.”
