Feb. 19, 2007
Box Score
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Monday night Texas A&M-Corpus Christi showed a Fox Southwest television audience what Southland Conference coaches have said all year long - the Islanders are the best team in the conference this season.
UT Arlington could not stay with the Islanders as senior guard Josh Washington set a school record with eight 3-pointers and a career-high 28 points to lead TAMUCC to a 91-72 victory over the Mavericks at the American Bank Center.
The win gives A&M-Corpus Christi (20-5, 11-1) a 20-win season for the third time in school history and moves them one game closer to a conference title in their first season in the league. UT Arlington (11-15, 6-7) had a five-game winning streak snapped with the loss.
Washington led all scorers. Seth Engelken came off the bench for 19 points and Cedric Smith added 10 for the Islanders. Rod Epps made 10-of-10 free throws to lead the Mavs with 17 points. Larry Posey had 12 points and seven rebounds before fouling out.
"I've never seen a kid shoot lights out like Washington did," said UT Arlington coach Scott Cross said. "I thought we played hard. Corpus shot the ball very well tonight and I thought we shot poor from the outside. They did a good job of denying our big men and that left us with contested shots outside which we struggled with."
UT Arlington stayed with the Islanders in the first half. UT Arlington led 7-2 early after a lay up by Jermaine Griffin with 15:54 left in the half. But A&M-Corpus Christi went on a 12-4 run to take the lead for good at 14-11 after a Washington 3-pointer with 13:58 left in the half.
A Ro'ger Guignard basket was disallowed at the buzzer as TAMUCC held a slim 42-37 edge at halftime.
TAMUCC quick built the lead to double digits in the second half and never led by less than 13 in the final 15:00 of the game. A 6-0 run by the Mavs, capped off by two Cardell Hunter free throws cut the lead to 61-48 with 11:13 to play, but the Mavs could get no closer.
TAMUCC gave UTA little room to breath, making its first 22 free throws in the game and finishing 26-of-31 (83.9%).
UTA will travel to Huntsville to take on Sam Houston State Thursday at 7 p.m.
