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Tuesday, January 23, 2001

A&M-CC edges by Winthrop
Forward Hicks nets 28 in 67-64 victory
By Matt Young
Caller-Times
ROCK HILL, S.C. - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi had been here before. It had a lead with less than a second left in the game, and the other team was looking for a miracle.
   This time no prayers from the opposing bench were answered.
   The Islanders narrowly escaped from Winthrop with a 67-64 win, snapping Winthrop's 16-game home winning streak, but not without another scare.
   On Saturday, A&M-Corpus Christi lost a controversial overtime game at Belmont that the Islanders thought they had won. In that game, officials decided to put three tenths of a second back on the clock after time had expired, allowing Belmont to throw an inbounds alley-oop pass resulting in a foul and two free throws for the win.
   This time, A&M-Corpus Christi (10-10) had a three-point lead with five tenths of a second remaining when Winthrop threw a hail-mary pass to midcourt. In that half-second, Winthrop's Roger Toxey found time to catch the pass, turn around and loft a 40-footer. The questionable desperation shot was on line, but bounced off the front of the rim, giving the Islanders the win.
   "I'm not going to say I had flashes of Belmont, but after they missed that shot, I was looking around to make sure there was no official there tapping me on the shoulder telling me the game wasn't really over," A&M-Corpus Christi coach Ronnie Arrow said.
   Clutch efforts by A&M-Corpus Christi's Michael Hicks, who finished with a game-high 28 points, and Brian Evans in the final two minutes ensured the Islanders would really walk out with a win this time.
   Trailing 61-59 with 1:38 remaining, Hicks drew the fifth foul on Winthrop forward Derrick Knox, who fouled out with 17 points. Hicks made both free throws to tie the score. After a failed Winthrop possession, the Islanders made sure to get the ball back to Hicks. Hicks drew a double-team at the top of the key, but drove to the hole anyway, crossing over one defender and spinning off the other for a slick go-ahead layup with 52 seconds left.
   Winthrop went for the lead on its next possession, but Toxey airballed a 3-point attempt with 20 seconds remaining. Winthrop chose to foul Evans on the Islanders' next two possessions, but the freshman point guard coolly sunk all four free throws.
   "Needless to say, when you have a player the caliber of Michael Hicks, you want to get the ball to him down the stretch," Arrow said. "Mike did his job, and Brian Evans stepped up with those key free throws at the end."
   The Islanders had another surprising player step up and help earn the win, when 6-foot-10 center Pathe Diene tied his career high with six blocked shots. Although he officially had six blocks, his presence completely took Winthrop out of its post game by altering several shots under the basket.
   "We haven't played against too many guys that are that tall, so he affected us inside," said Winthrop power forward Tyrone Walker, who finished with a career-high 15 points. "He blocked some of our shots, and changed a bunch of others. He was definitely a force inside for them."
   Diene's defensive effort made a difference in a game that was tied eight different times and had 19 lead changes.
   "That was a great ballgame against two very evenly matched teams," Winthrop coach Gregg Marshall said. "Corpus Christi has a lot of talent. They have a shot-blocker that changes the game, and of course, Hicks is just dynamite."

   TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (10-10) - Atsbeha 0-2 0-0 0, Hemsley 1-1 0-0 2, Diene 1-2 0-2 2, Evans 1-9 4-4 6, Hicks 11-19 5-5 28, McBride 0-1 0-0 0, Denmon 4-9 0-0 11, Drasutis 0-1 0-0 0, Hamilton 0-1 0-1 0, Wainright 5-11 0-1 12, Kirkaldy 2-3 2-2 6. TOTALS 25-59 11-15 67
   WINTHROP (9-9) -Knox 6-9 0-0 17, Stewart 7-17 4-4 18, Barnes 0-2 0-0 0, Wooten 3-9 2-4 10, Toxey 0-7 2-2 2, Harris 1-6 0-0 2, Latimer 0-0 0-0 0, Myers 0-0 0-0 0, Walker 6-7 2-2. TOTALS 23-57 10-12 64 Halftime-Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 28, Winthrop 27. 3-point goals-A&M-Corpus Christi 6-18 (Denmon 3-7, Wainright 2-5, Hicks 1-2, Atsbeha 0-2, Evans 0-1), Winthrop 8-18 (Knox 5-5, Wooten 2-4, Walker 1-2, Toxey 0-4, Harris 0-3). Fouled out-Winthrop, Knox. Rebounds-A&M-Corpus Christi 34 (Hicks 7), Winthrop 38 (Stewart 13). Assists-A&M-Corpus Christi 10 (Evans 4), Winthrop 13 (Wooten 5). Total fouls-A&M-Corpus Christi 15, Winthrop 15. A--1,047 (6,100).


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

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