CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Southeastern junior forward
Eddy Polanco tossed in a career-high 24 points but the Lions' rally from a 10-point second-half deficit came up short in an 80-75 Southland Conference loss at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday night at the American Bank Center.
Rashawn Thomas blocked sophomore guard
Marlain Veal's potential tying 3-pointer with 12 seconds left, then went in for a dunk to seal the win for the Islanders (13-9, 6-5 Southland) who won their fourth straight overall and fifth straight against Southeastern (13-12, 6-6 Southland).
Polanco was 8-of-15 from the field, tying a career-high in going 5-of-8 on 3-pointers, while leading the Lions with six rebounds. Veal had 15 points and five assists. Junior forward
Davon Hayes also scored 15 points for Southeastern, which shot 48 percent from the field.
Thomas scored 13 of his team-high 19 points in the second half for Corpus Christi. Kareem South and Jake Kocher each contributed 16 points while Ehab Amin had a game-high nine rebounds to go with 15 points. Joseph Kilgore added 10 points. The Islanders shot 48.2 percent from the field and out-rebounded Southeastern 32-26.
Corpus Christi took a 64-54 lead on a Kocher layup with 4:35 remaining. It was still 73-65 after a Thomas free throw at the 1:10 mark. But Veal hit two free throws, Hayes put back a missed 3 by Polanco and Veal knocked down a 3 to make it 74-72 with 41 seconds left.
Two Amin free throws built the lead back to four with 39 seconds remaining before Polanco nailed a 3 with 33 seconds left. After a pair of Amin free throws with 18 seconds left, Veal put up a 3 from the left wing which was tipped by Thomas. Kilgore grabbed the ball and found an open Thomas downcourt for a dunk with 5.5 seconds remaining.
Southeastern cut a 29-25 halftime deficit to 33-32 on a Polanco 3 with 16:14 left. A layup by junior forward
James Currington made it 43-42 at the 12:44 mark. But Corpus Christi responded with a 13-4 run to take a 56-46 lead on a Kocher 3 with 8:29 remaining.
Southeastern jumped out to an 8-2 lead on a 3 by junior guard
Jabbar Singleton at the 14:19 mark of the first half. A Thomas layup cut the margin to one with 11:59 left but a three-point play by Veal put the Lions up 15-9 with 11:08 remaining.
Corpus Christi used a 9-1 run to take its first lead at 18-16 on a 3 by South at the 8:09 mark. Two ties later, the Islanders took the lead for good at 24-21 on another 3 by South with 6:10 left. A Kilgore 3 extended the lead to 29-21 with 3:54 remaining. But Singleton and Polanco each hit a pair of free throws in the final 3:17 to cut the deficit to four at the half.
Southeastern returns home to play New Orleans Saturday at 5:45 p.m. in the University Center. In conjunction with the women's game at 3 p.m., the SLU Athletics Ticket Office will offer several ticket promotions. All children ages 12 and under will receive free admission, while middle school, junior high school and high school students who present their local school ID will receive admission for $3. In addition, all first responders and military personnel will receive a free ticket with a valid service ID or if they are in uniform.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and can be heard live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at
www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app.
