CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Islanders Men's and Women's Basketball teams were in action at home on Saturday.
Both teams hosted the Nicholls Colonels at the American Bank Center and got the win. The men won, 69-59, and the final score of the women's game was 58-52. The men's team will now face the McNesse State Cowboys in a nationally televised game.
"ESPNU on that national stage, you know, we got the whole city behind us, the Island University, of course," said Adrian Rodriguez, Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics at TAMU-CC. "So, it's just a great opportunity to bring this great brand of basketball, you know to everybody here at the beginning of conference play."
Islanders Men's Basketball is coming off back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and Southland Conference championships. Rodriguez said there are 11 new players on the roster this year and the ESPNU game can help this year's team build its own identity. Junior forward Garry Clark said playing NcNeese is an opportunity to show the country who they are.
"We definitely want to set the tone, show that, hey, we're the same type of team that was the last couple years. We got a lot of new players, but we also have a lot of great players who can come in and do the same things," Clark said.
The Islanders are off to a 11-7 start this season. Junior guard Dian Wright-Forde explained how much he wants people to know what this team is made of when they play on Monday.
"As much as somebody wants to breathe," Wright-Forde said. "You know what I mean, like, we want to show our toughness, our togetherness, even being new that, we play like a team that's been together for years."
This year's team is led by Head Coach Jim Shaw, who Rodriguez said helped build their roster in the last three years. Shaw said his team needs to be at their best to compete with McNeese, and that players can showcase their talents on a national level.
"Get a chance to show what kind of program we have," Shaw said. "It was, has been built the last two years and now we're trying to continue that winning culture, championship culture on into the future."
Rodriguez said TAMU-CC wants to fill the American Bank Center with Islanders fans on Monday. They will be shuttling students there and he said he is excited for the community to attend and show their support.