CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (10-9, 6-4) men's basketball entered their Southland Conference matchup against McNeese State with an impressive (34-5) home record under third year head coach Jim Shaw. In all three seasons the Cowboys have found a way to upset the Islanders at home, and defending conference champion McNeese won on Monday 69-53.
After the 2024-25 season, Islanders men's basketball added 12 newcomers to their roster. Despite the changes, Corpus Christi currently ranks fourth in the Southland Conference behind SFA (9-1), McNeese (8-2) and Nicholls (7-3).
There were moments of positive momentum for the Islanders in their loss against McNeese State. The last tie in the game was 24-24 with 4:30 left in the first half.
"I just felt like we were actually coming together at that point," said Islanders senior Sheldon Williams. "We just got to keep stringing along stops and stringing along good plays and better plays. Passing up good shots for great shots in order to continue to score and get our momentum."
Williams led the Islanders with 13 points and 8 rebounds. D'Avian Houston finished the game with 7 points. Larry Johnson led McNeese State with 17 points, followed by his teammates Tyshawn Archie and Carl Cherenfant with 13.
Corpus Christi's main problem against McNeese was losing the rebound battle. The Cowboys out-rebounded the Islanders 39-19.
"We've got to stay true to who we are. Play defense, rebound the basketball and have a level of toughness and togetherness about us," said Islanders men's basketball head coach Jim Shaw. "We've come a long way. We've still got a lot more to give and a lot better to get."
The Islanders travel north to San Antonio on Saturday to face UIW. Tip off is at 4 p.m. The Islanders come back home to Corpus Christi next Monday for the South Texas Showdown against UTRGV at 7 p.m.
