EL PASO, Texas – Coming directly off Tuesday night's emotionally-draining double-overtime loss to host UTEP at the Jim Forbes Classic, the Alcorn Braves (2-3) charged right back into action on Wednesday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (4-2) at the Don Haskins Center. While the Islanders found their stroke early, the Braves never got on offensive rhythm, as TAMU-CC downed Alcorn 98-67 in both teams' second game of the tournament.
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The Islanders jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start the game, but the Braves worked their way back quickly.
Dontrell McQuarter found
Byron Joshua cutting the lane for an easy two, and
Trevin Wade set up
Dekedran Thorn deep on the left arc to knot things at 5-all.
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That's where the Islanders started to turn their focus to the perimeter, shooting 64.3 percent from the floor and 4-for-7 front long range through the second media timeout to build up a 23-11 advantage over the Braves.
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Down 15 points at 9:35, the Braves went on the attack and began to rally as Joshua and
Devin Carter each downed a pair of free throws to get things started. On the ensuing TAMU-CC possession,
Dominic Brewton broke through the passing lane, collecting the steal and going the distance for an easy dunk. Next time down the floor, McQuarter threw down a dunk off Brewton's assist and the Braves were looking at a manageable 27-20 deficit.
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After going over two-and-a-half without a score, TAMU-CC reignited its offense, while also stifling the Alcorn efforts, outscoring the Braves 21-8 into halftime for a 48-28 margin at the break. That scoring run was keyed by a 4:31 stretch in which the Islanders held Alcorn without a field goal, before
Jeremiah Kendall put back the second-chance bucket with 1:59 to go.
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In the opening period, TAMU-CC outshot Alcorn, 59.3 percent to 34.6 percent, but also hit six three-pointers off 50 percent shooting. Despite the separation, the Islanders lost 10 turnovers to Alcorn's four in the first frame.
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Though
Darryl Jordan dropped in the first points of the second half, the Islanders were quick to respond by launching into an 11-2 run to build up a 29-point advantage.
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Each time the Braves worked some momentum to cut into the lead, it was Trevian Tennyson on the perimeter to flip the pendulum, hitting 4-of-5 from three to score 14 of his 16 points in the second half. Ross Williams led all scorers with 22 points, including 6-of-9 from long range, while Isaac Mushila added another 17 as the Islanders put away the Braves in a 98-67 final.
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Redshirt freshman guard
Devin Carter put up 14 of his career-high 16 points in the second half, hitting a pair of threes and 6-for-10 from the field. Redshirt freshman forward
Shaun Walker also added all of his career-high 12 points in the second half, racking up a total of seven rebounds to pace the Braves and a mark a new career best.
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The Braves will conclude play on Friday at the Jim Forbes Classic, closing out against the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners at 12:00 p.m. CT. The Roadrunners defeated TAMU-CC on the opening day and played host UTEP in the late game Wednesday. Finishing off the week, Alcorn will travel to Tempe, Ariz. to square off with Arizona State (5-1) at Desert Financial Arena on Sunday, Nov. 27.
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