Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com

Marketplace \| Services \| Contact Us \| Community \| Arts & Entertainment \| Local Guides

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Thursday, February 1, 2001

Isles soar in win
A&M-CC takes 104-82 victory
By Matt Young
Caller-Times
PRAIRIE VIEW - Finally, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi found a game that it didn't have to sweat out until the final buzzer.
   After playing three straight games that were decided by three points or less, the Islanders broke loose and whipped Prairie View A&M, 104-82, Wednesday at William Nicks Building.
   Michael Hicks led an upbeat Islanders squad with 29 points on 12-of-15 shooting. Lee Denmon tied an A&M-Corpus Christi record with six 3-pointers en route to 22 points.
   The Islanders led by double digits most of the game and were able to let their hair down and put on a show that entertained the road crowd with several dunks and flashy plays late in the game.
   "You have fun whenever you win games like this," Hicks said. "We've been having all these games where it comes to down to a last shot or a referee's call, so it was fun to go out and finish off a team early so we can relax."
   Prairie View A&M allowed A&M-Corpus Christi to have fun when it tried to unleash a full-court press on the Islanders. A&M-Corpus Christi had a 72-60 lead with 11:10 left in the game when the Panthers decided to switch to the pressure defense. That proved to be a mistake as the Islanders shredded the press and ripped off a 16-6 run to take an 88-66 lead with 7:02 left. No Islander had more fun than Arunas Drasutis who had three dunks, including a reverse, and a flashy no-look behind-the-back pass during the run.
   "I knew we were going to have fun when they put the press on us," said Drasutis, who finished with 10 points. "They can't press us. We're a pressing team, so we practice against it every day. We knew how to get down the court real fast and get easy shots off their press."
   The abundance of dunks and layups allowed the Islanders to shoot 62 percent from the field for the game.
   "When you get out on the break and get easy shots, you better shoot 62 percent," A&M-Corpus Christi coach Ronnie Arrow said. "We were ball-faking and getting to the hole for easy layups and dunks most of the game."
   Denmon's hot shooting made the Panthers fall for a lot of those ball-fakes. Denmon staked A&M-Corpus Christi to a quick lead by nailing four early 3-pointers. Denmon checked into the game with the score tied and 17:17 left in the first half. Six minutes and four Denmon 3-pointers later, the Islanders had jumped out to a 27-14 lead midway through the first half.
   After Denmon cooled down, Hicks took over. Hicks scored 13 points in the final 10 minutes of the first half to pace the Islanders and send them to halftime with a 51-41 lead.
   Prairie View A&M got within six points after scoring two quick buckets to start the second half, but soon that lead was back to double digits. Desperate, the Panthers turned to the full-court press and the rout was on.
   "We're finally back to .500, and that's what we've been talking about for a while," Arrow said. "We got the win to get us to 11-11, and now we're looking down the road and trying to get way over that hump."

   TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (11-11) - Hicks 12-15 5-8 29, Kirkaldy 6-9 2-2 14, Diene 1-1 0-0 2, Evans 1-1 1-2 3, Atsbeha 1-4 0-0 2, Denmon 8-13 0-0 22, Orta 0-4 0-2 0, Pitre 0-0 0-0 0, Drasutis 5-8 0-0 10, Hamilton 2-4 1-2 5, Wainright 5-9 0-0 10, Shultz 2-2 0-1 4, Hemsley 1-1 1-2 3. TOTALS 44-71 10-19 104
   PRAIRIE VIEW A&M (3-14) - Miles 9-16 2-2 22, Lark 3-6 1-3 7, Coulter 4-7 0-0 8, Campbell 2-9 0-0 5, Lee 5-14 4-6 16, Bowden 0-0 0-0 0, Montgomery 4-7 7-9 15, Burney 0-0 0-0 0, Sonier 1-2 0-0 2, Garwood 2-3 2-2 6, Toney 0-0 0-0 0, Walton 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS 30-66 16-22 82 Halftime-Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 51, Prairie View A&M 41. 3-point goals-A&M-Corpus Christi 6-23 (Denmon 6-10, Orta 0-4, Wainright 0-3, Drasutis 0-2, Hamilton 0-1), Prairie View A&M 6-17 (Lee 2-6, Miles 2-5, Campbell 1-3, Sonier 1-2, Montgomery 0-1). Fouled out-none. Rebounds-A&M-Corpus Christi 43 (Denmon 8), Prairie View A&M 32 (Lee 5). Assists-A&M-Corpus Christi 21 (Evans 7), Prairie View A&M 16 (Montgomery 5). Total fouls-A&M-Corpus Christi 16, Prairie View A&M 17. A-1,819 (5,000).



Staff writer Matt Young can be reached at 886-3702 or by e-mail at youngm@caller.com

| Talk about this story | Next Story | Home |

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]

SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND

[an error occurred while processing this directive]