LAKE CHARLES, La. — The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team had as bad of a start as it could in Wednesday's Southland Conference Tournament championship game.
But it only made the ending sweeter.
The Islanders shook off a 16-point first-half deficit and an injury to Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year Terrion Murdix in the game's opening minutes to rally for a 75-71 win against Northwestern State to claim the school's second straight NCAA Tournament berth.
Trailing 26-10 in the moments after Murdix had to be carried off the floor after slipping, head coach Steve Lutz said the Islanders were "shell shocked."
Responding to adversity
Redshirt freshman Owen Dease spurred a comeback with a career-best 16 points, helping the team close the first half on a 21-5 spurt to pull even at 31.
"They were all shell shocked. I was shell shocked," Texas A&M-Corpus Christi coach Steve Lutz said. "It took everything to not cry on the sideline for that kid, because he has given us everything he has. These guys are human. Terrion is best friends with half of them. He is that guy.
"You see him go down and it takes a good while to regroup. When you have good people and guys that care, they are usually going to get themselves out of that little funk, and to their credit, they did."
Dease had a dunk and two 3-pointers, aided by Northwestern State's commitment to shut down Trevian Tennyson as part of the closing run that pulled the Islanders even at half.
Jalen Jackson took over in the second half, assuming more of the primary ball handling with Murdix out, scored 13 of his team-best 17 points adding five assists after the break to grab tournament MVP honors.
"It means a lot knowing that I could do whatever I could to help my team get the win so we could get back to the tournament," Jackson said. "We started off slow but my guys were there to help me go. In the second half it was my time. I didn't want to lose and I stepped up.
"We knew we were going to make shots. Terrion going down shocked us. After that we regrouped a little bit. Owen gave us a spark. He got us going and got us going defensively. At halftime it was a new game when we got it to 31-31."
Locking down the Demons
Defensively the Islanders enabled the first half comeback by holding Northwestern State scoreless for nearly seven minutes bridging the two halves after Demarcus Sharp and the Demons opened the game on fire, hitting 8 of their first 12 shots including four 3-pointers.
Sharp, the Southland Conference Player of the Year finished with 32 points on 15-of-31 shooting, taking as many shot attempts as the rest of his team, but the Islanders momentum from closing the first half well carried over.
The Demons had one final run after the Islanders built it to eight with 1:36 to play, but De'Lazarus Keys had a key offensive rebound that set up Tennyson for a bucket to stretch the game back to three points and Jackson's free throws sealed the game.
Redshirt freshman steps up
Lutz said the team had faith in Dease, a 6-foot-8 forward from Evansville, Indiana, who shoots more than 40% from 3-point range in practice, and he stepped up when the team needed him.
"For him to be shooting 12% in games, you knew the numbers were going to level up," Lutz said. "To Owen's credit he never lost confidence. He never stopped working. There have been games where he came in and hit big 3s. Tonight was one of those."
Dease said his first attempt was short but on target and he knew his shot was there.
"My shot was going to be there, so I decided to get to the rim the next time and got a layup," Dease said. "We got a stop and just kept competing hard. After I hit the first two 3s they had Sharp try to come and deny the ball. It was beneficial, because we were moving the ball well and playing hard."
Back to the Dance
After a season where Texas A&M-Corpus Christi returned every player with eligibility remaining, the Islanders ended the season where they began it when they were installed as Southland Conference favorites: at the top.
For the second straight season and third time in program history the team will gather Sunday to find where they are slotted in the field of 68.
Jackson, who will advance to the tournament for the fourth consecutive year after two trips with North Texas, said the Islanders will not be content just getting there.
"I think our experience will help us, but you never know. It is the NCAA Tournament," Lutz said. "That is the great thing about college basketball, the NCAA Tournament. Whether we are in Dayton in the play-in game or we are a 15 or 16-seed, it doesn't matter.
"We are going."
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