CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team flew to a program record, scoring a new all-time high in a 117-63 win over Southwestern Adventist Wednesday morning in the Dugan Wellness Center on Education Day, presented by Whataburger.
Junior Sheldon Williams secured the triple-double with his 10th assist coming on the final bucket that got the Islanders (7-5) to the new scoring record of 117 points. He also recorded 13 points and 12 rebounds, becoming the first Islander to register a triple-double since Joe Kilgore turned in the 24-point, 12-rebound, 11-assist stat line against Houston Christian (then Houston Baptist) in the 2017-2018 season.
The 117 points just edged the previous record of 116, which was set three separate times. The last came against Texas A&M-International on November 21, 2005, breaking the record set nearly 20 years ago. The most recent time they were close to the record was last season also against Southwestern Adventist when they scored 111.
In both meetings now against the Knights, the Islanders have set a program record as last year's 111-46 score saw a 65-point win that broke the program's previous margin of victory record of 58 set in 2005.
It was additionally 66.2 percent shooting from the field today where five other Islanders joined Williams in double figures, including senior Garry Clark (19), senior Jordan Roberts (18), redshirt-junior Stephen Giwa (16), redshirt junior Shilo Jackson (13), and junior Aaron Potter (13). It is the first time since the 2018-19 season that six Islanders came away with 10+ points in a game (Nov. 9 vs. Our Lady of the Lake).
The record-breaking day got off with the Islanders firing from beyond-the-arc, immediately making four threes in as many attempts. Roberts was responsible for three of those early shots, reaching his double figure day within the first five minutes of the game after cutting inside for his next bucket that sent him over 10 points.
The Knights stayed in it early for an 18-18 tie at 12:51 but the Islanders came out of a timeout with another three from Roberts that began a 23-0 scoring run as the home squad rocketed out to a 41-18 lead with 6:25 in the first half.
After a comfortable 58-25 cushion at the half, Williams and Giwa went back-and-forth inside the paint with the former converting on the putback at 15:42 for a 72-34 lead. Roberts then traded his long-range game and drove the lane on the fastbreak for the one-handed slam 10 seconds later.
Clark then took his turn for three back-to-back field goals all on second chance opportunities. Nearing the century mark, Potter sent the Islanders over 100 with 4:21 still left to play with the three-pointer and didn't let up with another three in the next possession. The final bucket came with just nine seconds remaining as Williams found junior Leo Torbor on the inbound who got up for the flush to put a stamp on the program's highest scoring game.
It is the second time this year that the Islanders scored over 100 points in a game and seventh to shoot above 50.0 percent. The program is 30-1 over the last four seasons when shooting above 50.0 percent and are now just one of 14 teams nationally to have turned in at least seven games this year above that mark.
The Islanders will now head up to take on No. 15 Houston on Saturday in Fertitta Center at 1 p.m. CT. It will be the final game before an eight-day break, as the Islanders will return to the court Dec. 29 at home against Schreiner.